Inline Skating Has Grown by 310 Percent Since 1990

By Robert "The Eternal Optimist" Burnson

Who says inline skating is dying? Sure, it's fallen off some since the Rollerblade explosion of the mid-1990s. But if you look at the numbers, you find a sport that appears to be thriving.

The numbers I am referring to are from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, which makes an annual survey of sports participation in the United States.

According to the association's 2004 Sports Participation Topline Report, inline skating grew 309.6 percent in the last 13 years and now has 19.2 million participants. ... That's more participants than soccer and surfing combined!

Only one outdoor sport grew faster. That was mountain biking, which grew 359 percent in the last 16 years, but still only has 6.9 million participants, according to the association.

Of course, it's not all good news for inline skating. As the phenomena of the disappearing skate shop shows, inline skating has stumbled in the last several years

At the height of the inline craze, in 1998, 32 million Americans were strapping on inline skates, according to the report. But by 2001, the number had shrunk to 26 million; by 2002, to 21.6 million; and by 2003, to 19.2 million.

The numbers appear to be leveling off, but it is too early to tell if the shrinkage has ended. (And no estimates are yet available for 2004.)

But regardless, 19.2 million is not a paltry number. It represents (if I did the math right) 6.5 percent of the total U.S. population (294 million). That's makes one in every fifteen Americans an inline skater.

It also makes inline skating more popular than many other seemingly entrenched and seemingly healthy sports.

Take surfing, for example. (Like inline skating, a truly wonderful sport!) Would you say surfing is endangered? ... Hardly. But it only has 2 million U.S. participants, according to the report.

What about soccer? It's another big sport, right? ... Well, it only has 16.1 million participants.

And then there's tennis: 17.3 million participants; downhill skiing: 13.6 million; hunting (not only popular but powerful politically): 15.2 million. ... And I could go on.

But these numbers only tell one part of the story. The other part is that elsewhere inline skating is exploding. I don't have any hard data. But anecdotal information suggests that inline skating is mushrooming in South American and Asia.

Take South Korea, for example. (Down, Dubya! Down!) In this relatively small nation, 8,000 skaters regularly show up for inline races and marathons, and female skater Kuok Chae-yi, who won gold at the 2004 Inline World Championships in Italy, is a household name with her own fan clubs, manager, and nickname: the Rollerblade Fairy.

The situation is similar in South America, according to Guido Ferraiuolo, who runs the Patin Carrera inline skating web site. Guido told me that during one week last summer (the weeks of the Inline Worlds) 17 million people visited his site. (In case you don't keep track of stuff like that, that's huge!)

Inline skating may no longer be hot in the United States. But it's hot elsewhere and that heat is going to keep the sport healthy and keep the manufacturers churning out great new stuff.

So stay tuned. The Inline Planet is growing. ... And if hot is what you want, buy yourself a nice Pilates tape. As for me, as soon as I post this screed, I'm going skating!

Comment on this article:

What do you think? ... Is inline skating healthy or in decline?

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Copyright © 2006 by Robert Burnson