METHODOLOGY

The present report is a geographic supplement to the SUPERSTUDY® of sports participation — an annual syndicated tracking study which presents a comprehensive overview of sports participation in the U.S. Its objective is to provide key marketing intelligence for sporting goods manufacturers, websites, advertising agencies, communications media, fitness consultants, and other professionals with an interest in participant sports, product markets or fitness lifestyles.

Whereas the main study contains a plethora of demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral information at the national level, the geographic supplement displays total participation on 103 sports and activities for the nine geographic divisions, 48 continental states, and the top 33 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA's).

In order to ensure a minimally acceptable number of respondents for statistical stability in some of the smaller states and MSA's, three databases were amassed in a single tabulation. The present report is based on surveys conducted in January of 2003, 2004 and 2005 for the previous calendar years, and reflects the average participation behavior of 44,762 individuals over the age of 6 who reside in the 48 continental states. Each respondent in this combined sample represents 5,807 people in the U.S. population.

While 103 sports/activities are measured in each annual survey, only 99 selected activities (and those monitored in all 3 years) could be tabulated in the geographic supplement. However, additional "net" aggregations of various activities increase the number of actual measurements (including health club membership) to 113 for each geographic area.

Section I presents sports participation within each of the 48 states and top 33 metro areas. Section II reverses the presentation and ranks geographic participation within each of 99 activity measurements, first by state, and then by MSA.

Demographics or other analytical elements of sports participation have not been shown in the geographic supplement, for two reasons: First, sports participation is essentially driven by age, gender, and income — which means that although overall participation may change significantly in different parts of the country, demographic profiles within regions or localities are not likely to vary drastically. Second, (even with a combined 3-year sample of 44,762 people) demographic analyses at the state and local level would, in many cases, be based on too few cases for valid projection.

The research was designed by American Sports Data, Inc. and fielded by NFO Research, Inc., the nation's leading consumer mail panel research organization which is headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. Data processing was conducted by Crosstabs, Inc. of Plainview, N.Y. with American Sports Data, Inc. performing the data analysis and report preparation.

A major sponsor of the SUPERSTUDY® is the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association of Washington, D.C.