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USA Ultimate Membership Trends

Detailed breakdowns of USA Ultimate memberships by state, gender, age and membership level for several of the most recent full years compiled are available here:

DETAILED BREAKDOWNS: 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013

Click on any year above to access a public viewable online spreadsheet that can be downloaded to your device for further analysis, parsing, sorting or other authorized and permitted use.

For information about trends related to USA Ultimate membership view the following charts. Note that as the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the US, we do not currently maintain growth records for other countries or for other disc sports. The focus of these statistics is on the USA Ultimate membership.

Membership Type 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Lifetime 149 231 331 342 360 376 397 406 438 445 457 468 479 490 503 529 539
Adult 6627 6572 6764 7112 7413 7723 7707 7467 8268 8569 9210 9625 11,086 12,352 13,414 14,424 15,015
College 8972 9951 11,157 12,374 13,813 14,815 15,237 17,569 16,041 16,467 16,885 17,278 17,973 17,729 18,238 18,390 18,669
Youth 1489 2298 3646 4617 5628 6218 7274 8467 9158 9923 11,236 12,511 13,651 14,467 15,119 15,792 15,265
Affiliate N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1537 2280 4576 4760 5610 6536 7789
Coach & Coach-Player N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 733 825 648 769 827 1024 1161 1472 1522 1507 1798
Friends & Family N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 58 57 73 125 144 119 111 122 117 122 134
Youth-Serving Organization N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1 1 5 21 49 43 19 7 4
Staff 182 182 182 188 182 179 182 210 216 209 222 212 225 218 254 225 N/A
Total Full-Year Mbrs 17,419 19,234 22,080 24,633 27,396 29,311 31,588 35,001 34,843 36,508 40,523 43,538 49,311 51,653 54,796 57,532 59,213
Recreational Single Event 3030 2974 4024 4271 5406 5723 5436 6532 7720 8013 6614 5376 4051 3196 3582 3395 2465
Total Members 20,449  22,208  26,104  28,904  32,802  35,034  37,024  41,533  42,563  44,521  47,137  48,914  53,362  54,849  58,378  60,927  61,678 
Annual Change in Total   +1759 +3896 +2800 +3898 +2232 +1990 +4509 +1030 +1958 +2616 +1777 +4448 +1487 +3529 +2549 +751
Annual % Change   8.60% 17.54% 10.73% 13.49% 6.80% 5.68% 12.18% 2.48% 4.60% 5.88% 2.78% 9.09% 2.79% 6.43% 4.37% 1.23%

Note: Recreational single event-only participants in non-championship sanctioned events were not counted in the annual membership reports until 2013, the same year that the Affiliate level was established which offerred an annual alternative for that largely recreational-level segment.


Age

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

12 & Under

23

38

42

329

327

833

1053

1271

1487

1712

13-18

8080

8637

9319

12,345

13,568

15,052

15,527

16,954

18,156

17,616

19-24

18,544

17,835

18,461

21,450

21,786

22,720

23,021

23,723

23,940

24,025

25-34

5846

5745

6070

9376

9661

10,381

10,720

11,485

12,236

12,502

35-54

2428

2495

2502

3454

3351

3744

3861

4220

4557

4842

55 & Over

80

93

114

183

221

284

370

503

550

646

 

Gender

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

% Female

31.2%

31.3%

30.8%

30.0%

29.5%

29.8%

30.3%

30.8%

31.21%

32.33%

% Male

68.8%

68.7%

69.2%

70.0%

70.5%

70.2%

69.7%

69.2%

68.76%

67.29%

% Non-Binary

                

0.03%

0.22%

% Prefer Not To Say

                  

0.16%

 

U.S. Participation Trends in Ultimate

For information about trends related to ultimate participation in the United States, view the following data gathered from surveys by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), the trade association of leading industry sports and fitness brands, suppliers, retailers and partners, formerly called the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA).

Participation in U.S.*

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Total Participation

3,698

4,038

4,879

4,636

4,571

4,868

5,131

5,077

4,530

4,409

3,673

3,126

Core (13+ times/yr)

1,032

1,318

1,359

1,273

1,518

1,476

1,484

1,363

1,082

1,038

927

856

% Age 12 & Under

 

 

 

8.0%

12.8%

9.9%

8.7%

10.0%

9.7%

9.8%

9.6%

8.7%

% Age 13-24

 

 

 

47.0%

43.5%

46.9%

38.3%

39.6%

44.0%

42.3%

39.4%

40.3%

% Age 25-34

 

 

 

20.2%

22.1%

23.5%

26.9%

26.9%

24.5%

27.1%

27.8%

30.5%

% Age 35-54

 

 

 

19.8 %

19.3%

15.1%

22.2%

20.0%

18.8%

17.8%

21.1%

18.2%

% Over Age 54

 

 

 

5.0 %

2.4%

4.6%

3.9%

3.5%

3.0%

2.9%

2.2%

2.1%

% Female

 

 

 

27.1%

28.5%

31.0%

35.9%

35.0%

35.4%

33.6%

30.4%

32.9%

% Male

 

 

 

72.9%

71.5%

69.0%

64.1%

65.0%

64.6%

66.4%

69.6%

67.1%


* all participation figures are in 000s

Notes per 2017 SFIA survey findings:

  • 73% of all and 74% of core participants are between ages 18 to 44.

  • 46% of participants have a college degree or higher and 51% have a household income under $75k per year.

  • 56% of participants also do weight training, 40% do high impact/intensity training, and 37% day hike.

 

 

USA Ultimate Membership - USA Ultimate memberships are not refundable nor transferable. Members are encouraged to sign up as early as possible to receive the most from their membership. All USA Ultimate memberships are based on the calendar year (January 1 – December 31). Any memberships purchased through November 30 will expire on December 31 of the current year. Memberships for the following year become available on December 1. Please review the information carefully before registering.