CNBC sports business reporter extraordinaire Darren Rovell recently posts his Top 10 Most Interesting Trends In Sports after taking a look at the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association’s Annual Report (don’t bother trying to look it up yourself because they make you pay for it…damn capitalism).
For #10 on his list, Rovell breaks down what the report says about lacrosse:
10. Lacrosse has long been called the fastest growing sport in America, as it has grown 117 percent since 2000. Still, only 1.9 million people played lacrosse in 2008 compared to something like slow pitch softball, which had 9.8 million participants.
source: sgma.com
Sometimes it takes hard numbers to really put things in perspective. Lacrosse has come a long way in the past decade but there is still a lot of growing left to do. Are you surprised that participation levels were so low?
For all you other Sports Business nerds out there I highly suggest reading all Rovell’s stuff on CNBC. You can even follow him on twitter at @darrenrovell1.
Take a look at his entire top 10 list for interesting nuggets like this one:
1. The biggest increase in participation in team sports in 2008 was ultimate Frisbee, up 20.8 percent.
Maybe those naked, drunken hippies in Eugene are on to something after all.
