Tackle football participation in the U.S. 2010-2023

The number of U.S. Americans playing tackle football increased in 2023 for the fourth year in a row. In total, around 5.6 million people above the age of six years were engaged in that sport at least once in that year. 

Tackle football vs flag football

Football is a popular recreational sport in the United States - for adults, adolescents and children alike. Played with almost the same rules as professional football, children can start playing tackle football around the age of five. Over the past few years, there has been a decline in the number of people participating in tackle football. Comparatively, more and more people have been turning to flag football, where rather than tackling players to the ground (as done in tackle football) the defensive team must remove a flag from the player carrying the ball. In 2021, the U.S. participation in flag football was approximately 6.9 million people, a number that has seen an overall raise of 18.2 percent between 2015 and that year.

Too old for outdoor activities?

It would seem that younger generations participate more often in outdoor activities than people of older age groups do. A survey found that around 60 percent of the Millenials and Gen Z respondents participated at least once in an outdoor activity in 2021. Meanwhile, the outdoor participation of respondents who belonged to the boomers generations amounted to 40 percent.