Sports tourism spans travel to amateur competitions, collegiate tournaments, and related events, with impacts measured through visitors, spending, lodging, jobs, taxes, and destination operations. The largest consistent U.S. series below is Sports ETA’s estimate for adult and youth amateur events and collegiate tournaments; it excludes professional sports and collegiate regular-season games.
Key Sports Tourism Statistics
The most useful headline figures include:
- 179.3 million U.S. sports travelers were estimated for 2019, the pre-pandemic high in Sports ETA’s series.
- 96.0 million U.S. sports travelers were estimated for 2020, a 46.5% year-over-year decline attributed to COVID-19 disruptions.
- 174.7 million U.S. sports travelers were estimated for 2021, 2.6% below the 2019 high-water mark.
- 94.7 million overnight U.S. sports travelers were estimated for 2021, up 86.0% year over year.
- About 54% of U.S. sports travelers spent the night at the event destination in 2021.
- 66.5 million room nights were generated by U.S. sports-related travel in 2021.
- $206 per person trip was the estimated average spending by a U.S. sports traveler in 2021.
- $39.7 billion in U.S. sports-related spending was estimated for 2021.
- $9.7 billion for transportation was estimated as the largest U.S. sports-related spending category in 2021.
- $8.4 billion for lodging was estimated in U.S. sports-related spending in 2021.
- $91.8 billion in total U.S. economic impact was estimated from sports tourism in 2021.
- 635,000 U.S. full-time and part-time jobs were estimated to be supported by sports tourism in 2021.
- $12.9 billion in U.S. tax revenue was estimated from sports tourism in 2021.
- 176 destinations responded to Sports ETA’s 2021 destination survey.
- 97% of surveyed destinations hosted youth events in 2021.
- $6.8 billion in Canadian dollars was estimated as sport-tourist spending across Canada in 2018.
- £25.5 billion was attributed directly to the UK economy by Olympic and Paralympic sports in 2021, a broader sport-sector measure rather than tourism-only spending.
Contents
- U.S. sports tourism statistics and recovery trends
- Sports tourism data on day trips, overnight stays and spending
- Sports tourism spending categories and lodging demand
- Sports tourism economic impact: sales, jobs, income and taxes
- Destination budgets, staffing and event portfolios
- International sports tourism statistics and sport-economy context
U.S. Sports Tourism Statistics and Recovery Trends
Sports ETA estimated steady growth in U.S. sports travelers from 2015 through 2019, followed by a sharp pandemic-era contraction and a strong 2021 rebound.
| Year | Estimated U.S. sports travelers | Measurement context |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 169.3 million | Adult and youth amateur events and collegiate tournaments |
| 2016 | 171.4 million | Same Sports ETA definition |
| 2017 | 174.4 million | Same modeled series |
| 2018 | 175.9 million | Same modeled series |
| 2019 | 179.3 million | Pre-pandemic high |
| 2020 | 96.0 million | 46.5% below 2019; COVID-19 disruption |
| 2021 | 174.7 million | 82.0% above 2020; 2.6% below 2019 |
Source: Sports Tourism: State of the Industry Report (2021).
The series is an estimate rather than a simple attendance count. Sports ETA says its economic model combines surveys and administrative or industry data, and the report’s definition excludes professional sports and collegiate regular-season games.
Sports Tourism Data on Day Trips, Overnight Stays and Spending
The U.S. traveler series separates day trips from overnight travel, making the recovery pattern more specific than the total alone.
| Year | Day-trip travelers | Overnight travelers | Average spending per traveler trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 79.6 million | 89.6 million | $208 |
| 2019 | 83.0 million | 96.4 million | $230 |
| 2020 | 45.1 million | 50.9 million | $198 |
| 2021 | 80.0 million | 94.7 million | $206 |
Source: Sports Tourism: State of the Industry Report (2021).
In 2021, overnight travel was still below its 2019 high-water mark by 1.7 million travelers, while about 54% of sports travelers spent the night at the event destination. Sports-related travel generated 66.5 million room nights that year.
Spending varied substantially by trip type. Day trippers spent $69 per person trip in 2015 and $79 in 2019; overnight travelers spent $359 per person trip in 2019 and $317 in 2021, with the latter $11 higher than in 2020 but below 2019.
Sports Tourism Spending Categories and Lodging Demand
Sports ETA estimated $39.7 billion in total U.S. sports-related spending in 2021. This total includes traveler, event-organizer, and venue spending as defined by the report, so it is broader than traveler purchases alone.
| Spending category | 2021 U.S. estimate | Included activity or products |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation | $9.7 billion | Airfare, rental cars, taxis, buses, parking, transit and rideshare |
| Lodging | $8.4 billion | Hotels, motels, private-home rentals and RVs |
| Food and beverage | $7.5 billion | Restaurants, fast food and convenience stores |
| Recreation | $5.3 billion | Amusements, theaters, entertainment and other recreation |
| Retail | $5.0 billion | Souvenirs, general merchandise, malls and local retailers |
| Tournament operations | $3.7 billion | Event-organizer and venue spending |
Source: Sports Tourism: State of the Industry Report (2021).
Lodging represented 21% of all sports-related travel spending in 2021. The report’s lodging category includes several accommodation types, while tournament operations are excluded from its traveler-spending table, so the categories should be read according to those definitions.
Sports Tourism Economic Impact: Sales, Jobs, Income and Taxes
Sports ETA’s U.S. impact estimate uses an IMPLAN input-output model. It distinguishes direct activity from indirect supplier and supply-chain effects and induced household spending from generated wages.
- Direct sports-tourism spending generated $22.0 billion in indirect expenditures in the United States in 2021.
- Direct sports-tourism spending generated $30.1 billion in induced expenditures in the United States in 2021.
- Total U.S. sports-tourism economic impact was $91.8 billion in 2021, combining direct, indirect and induced modeled impacts.
- Sports tourism supported 635,000 full-time and part-time jobs in the United States in 2021; this is a modeled total, not only employment at event venues.
- Sports tourism generated $12.9 billion in U.S. tax revenue in 2021, including federal, state and local modeled impacts.
- State governments collected $2.9 billion and local governments collected $3.3 billion from sports-tourism activity in 2021, according to modeled estimates.
Industry-linked business sales in 2021 included $12.931 billion in finance, insurance and real estate, $10.051 billion in food and beverage, $9.648 billion in business services, $8.837 billion in lodging, and $8.004 billion in recreation and entertainment.
Source: Sports Tourism: State of the Industry Report (2021).
These are modeled economic impacts, not independently observed cash registers or a count of jobs uniquely created by individual events. The indirect and induced components should not be added to direct spending without retaining the report’s model structure.
Sports Tourism Destination Budgets, Staffing and Event Portfolios
Sports ETA’s 2021 destination profile came from a survey with 176 destination responses. The survey was conducted in February 2022, and its percentages describe member destinations rather than all U.S. destinations.
Destination organization types included 48% CVBs or DMOs, 25% sports commissions operating as a department within a CVB or DMO, and 16% stand-alone sports commissions. Nearly half operated with budgets of $500,000 or less, while 13% operated with budgets exceeding $2 million.
Budget and staffing changes reflected an uneven recovery:
- Nearly half of destinations reported lower 2021 budgets than in 2019, with an average decrease of 28%.
- 23% of destinations increased budgets between 2019 and 2021, with an average increase of 21%.
- 69% expected their budget to increase in the following year, while 3% expected a decrease; these were expectations, not realized changes.
- The average destination employed 4.2 full-time sports-related staff and 7.1 total sports-related staff in 2021, including part-time staff and interns.
- Nearly one-third decreased sports-related staff between 2019 and 2021, while 57% reported no staffing change.
Event portfolios were heavily oriented toward participation events. In 2021, 97% of surveyed destinations hosted youth events, 94% hosted adult or amateur events, and 37% owned an event; owning an event is distinct from hosting one.
Source: Sports Tourism: State of the Industry Report (2021).
The source cautions that the 2021 destination sample differs from the 2019 edition and should not be compared directly across editions. That limitation matters when interpreting budget, staffing, and organization-profile percentages.
International Sports Tourism Statistics and Sport-Economy Context
International figures provide useful scale, but the available measures are not identical. Canada’s figure is explicitly sport-tourist spending, while the UK figures cover the wider Olympic and Paralympic sport sector.
| Geography and measure | Period | Reported result | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada sport-tourist spending | 2018 | C$6.8 billion | Domestic and international sport tourists |
| UK Olympic and Paralympic sports direct contribution | 2021 | £25.5 billion | Broad sport-sector contribution |
| UK Olympic and Paralympic sports wider impact | 2021 estimate | £58.2 billion per year | Wider effects beyond direct contribution |
| UK Olympic and Paralympic sports direct employment | 2021 | Nearly 500,000 jobs | Sector-wide, not tourism-only |
| North West England share of UK sector contribution | 2021 | 11% | Regional share of broad sector contribution |
Canada’s government page attributes the C$6.8 billion estimate to Sport Tourism Canada and says it includes tickets, concessions, travel, accommodation, restaurants, and shopping. Source: Chapter 2: Why sport is important to Canadians and Canada.
UK Sport reported that Olympic and Paralympic sports directly contributed £25.5 billion to the UK economy in 2021, with a wider total economic impact of £58.2 billion per year and nearly 500,000 direct jobs. The North West of England contributed 11% of the UK sector’s economic contribution.
Source: Olympic and Paralympic Sport Provides Boost to the UK Economy.
The Canada and UK measures should not be presented as directly comparable to the U.S. sports-tourism series: the Canadian result is sport-tourist spending, while the UK results are broader sport-economy or sport-event measures rather than tourism-only spending.