Money Spent In Youth Sports
MacKenzie Schill
The magnitude of total dollars being spent in youth athletics is staggering, as youth sports continues to impact several markets and industries. Even during economic downturns, spending in youth sports has not slowed down. Since not all youth programs are governed by a nationwide agency, there is no collective study on the overall economic impact created by youth sports. There are reports of youth events providing substantial economic value to a local market. While total dollars being spent in youth sports is not easy to identify, one thing is easily recognized - the cost spent annually on youth sports may not be worth it, but benefits the economy greatly.
Youth sports movement and participation levels have exploded. The demand is steadily increasing as over 45 million children playing organized sports in the United States. With 20 million children participating in out-of-school sports and another 25 million playing competitively for their high school teams. Nationwide youth sports impact sports-related equipment sales, medical field, as well as the travel and tourism industry, local real-estate and construction markets, and more. Local economies are especially impacted where communities have invested millions of dollars on sports complexes to host tournaments and events throughout the year.
Studies and reports show families are spending a significant amount of money each year for their children to play organized sports. The average family will spend $670 per year on sports related activities. In addition, schools are increasing fees to play school sports where you must pay-to-play. Parents are spending around $380 per child, per sport to play on a school team. In all, Americans are spending nearly $5 billion annually for fees, sports equipment and uniforms. Sports equipment revenues continue to climb each year. See graphic showing nationwide one year value change from spending increase for sports related equipment from 2014 to 2015. Another estimated $935 million is spent annually on medical expense for sports related injuries. Youth sports tourism generates $7 billion annually from youth athletes traveling with their families.
In tough economic times, people tend to scale back on excess spending. In September, 2013, consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of U.S. economic activity, only rose 0.2%, despite a personal income increase of 0.5% (1). But throughout the nation, youth sports and sports-related travel have remained steady, despite the Great Recession. There was an opportunity cost to spend money elsewhere, but in today’s society, the demand for youth sports has only gone up.
The total revenue generated by youth sports is increasing. Maintaining the participation numbers in youth sports is the key to managing and sustaining the dollars being spent across the different areas. While there is no collective report to fully grasp the amount of money being spent on youth sports, we can recognize youth athletics impacts several markets, fields and industries. Until they stop making equipment, fields and ways to travel, there are no trade-offs to youth sports and many people will continue to invest in it.
Works Cited
“Collective Study of Economic Impact Would Benefit Youth Sports.” - SportsBusiness Daily, American City Business Journals , m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/journal/issues/2016/08/08/opinion/glenn-gray.aspx.
“Spending Big on Kids' Sports? You'Re Not Alone.” CNBC, CNBC, 14 Jan. 2014, www.cnbc.com/2014/01/13/youth-sports-is-a-7-billion-industryand-growing.html.
“The Sports Facilities Advisory Deems Youth Sports and Sports-Related T.” PRWeb, Vocus PRW Holding LLC. , 25 Nov. 2013, www.prweb.com/releases/2013/11/prweb11362596.htm.
Ufonline. “The Economy of Youth Sports | UF Online.” UF Online, UF Inc. , ufonline.ufl.edu/infographics/youth-sports/.
As someone that has spent my whole playing soccer. From recreational to high school, youth programs always seem to have the best turnouts. No matter the price, well because there are no substitutes for youth sports parents keep investing hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars into it. Youth programs are a great way to support other businesses and companies. This is because every team needs a sponsor, well someone to provide jerseys, shorts and socks. Even though spending hundreds and thousands of dollars doesn't sound the best, you are really supporting small businesses. In addition, according to Forbes youth spending is so high because 67% of parents had hopes for their child/student getting an athletic scholarship. So while spending money when they are young may be befitting them in the future. Having to drop hundreds of dollars, is definitely better than spending at least 10,000 dollars.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maria when she says that Youth Sports have the best turnouts and that they support other businesses. But I feel like the ridiculously big amount invested in such programs could be utilized elsewhere and could benefit these kids in other ways. I'm not saying that sports hurt kids, they don't but if some of this money were invested in their education, they could be far more than just good athletes. And this can be easily solved if businesses reduced their prices by producing more.
ReplyDelete