Professional associations can be a great source of free information when you're doing business research. And nearly every industry or occupation you can think of has an association. Today we're taking a look at the National Sporting Goods Association. They've got a great site and they make it really easy by having a tab right at the top labeled "research". Here you'll find several reports not only about consumer purchases, but also sports participation.
Using Snowboarding as our example, here are some facts you can find on the NSGA's page:
- In 2010, consumers are expected to spend $294 million on snowboarding equipment.
- Of the households surveyed, about 6.2% of them participated in snowboarding in 2009--a 5.7% increase over the previous year.
- Women represent about 30% of the snowboarders in the US.
- Snowboarding tops the charts for Sports with over a 15% Change in Participation since 1999 with an increase of 76.7%.
You can also find reports on Participation by 45-54 Year Olds, Youth Sports Participation and Participation by State. Who knew Kentuckians loved paintball so much? Or that the top participation sport in Texas was not football, but water skiing?
In addition to their research, the National Sporting Goods Association page also has directories, news and publications.
Got an association that's been a great resource for you? Tell us about it in the comments.