FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bruce Howard
INDIANAPOLIS,
IN (August 17, 2011) — More fans attend high school basketball and football
events than the same sports at the college and professional levels combined,
according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School
Associations (NFHS).
During the 2009-10 school year,
approximately 336 million fans attended high school regular-season and playoff
games in football and girls and boys basketball – more than 2½ times the 133
million spectators who attended events in those sports at the college and
professional levels.
In addition, attendance at events in
the top 16 high school sports from a participation standpoint was approximately
510 million during the 2009-10 school year, including 468 million during
regular-season events and 42 million for state association playoff contests.
The NFHS surveyed high school athletic
directors at small (up to 1,000 enrollment), medium (1,000 to 2,200) and large
(more than 2,220) high schools and multiplied the average regular-season
attendance (based on the schools that responded) in each sport by the number of
schools in each enrollment category that sponsor the sport. A similar method
was used to determine overall attendance at postseason events conducted by NFHS
member state associations.
In addition to basketball and
football, others sports included in the survey were baseball, cross country,
field hockey, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving,
tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. Where
applicable, attendance for both boys and girls contests was included.
When combining attendance at
regular-season girls and boys contests, basketball led the way with about 170
million fans, followed closely by football with 166 million. Soccer ranked
third at 24 million, followed by baseball (20 million), volleyball (17
million), softball (15.8 million), wrestling (10 million), track and field (6.6
million), ice hockey (6 million), swimming and diving (4.8 million), lacrosse
(4.5 million), cross country (3 million), water polo (1.8 million), tennis (1.8
million), golf (1.3 million) and field hockey (800,000).
While there are about 40 sports listed
in the NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, the remaining sports
not included in the attendance survey have minimal participation numbers
nationally and would collectively add fewer than a million spectators annually.
This is the first attempt (through the means of a survey) by the NFHS, the
national leadership organization for high school athletic and performing arts
activities, to determine national attendance figures at the high school level.
“This first-of-its-kind survey of
attendance figures at the high school level is certainly a great sign that high
school sports continue to be a big part of communities throughout our nation,”
said Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director. “A ticket to a high school sporting
event remains one of the best values for the entertainment dollar.”