Sports in America By the Numbers

1. Population of the United States as of May 29, 2008: 304,200,171 2. Number of Americans who watched the professional football 2005 Super Bowl championship on television: 133.7 million viewers 3. Number of fans that follow NASCAR stock car racing: estimated 75 million 4. Number of Americans who played golf in 2004: 24.5 million [table no. 1238] 5. Number of Americans who played tennis in 2004: 24 million [table no. 1234]   6. Number of kilometers that competitors swim, bike, and run, respectively, in an Ironman Triathlon: 3.8, 180.2, and 42.195 7. Percentage of international Major League Baseball players in 2005: 30.3 8. Percentage of international National Basketball Association players in the 2003-04 season: 17 9. Percentage of international Major League Soccer players in 2004: 20 [table 54] 10. Percentage of female student athletes in 1991-1992: 31 11. Percent of female students athletes in 2002-2003: 44 12. Number of nonresident alien student-athletes on university basketball teams 1999-2000: 279 13. Number of nonresident alien foreign-born student-athletes on university basketball teams 2003-2004: 480 14. Number of high school girls participating in high school athletic programs in 1972: 817,073 [table 1237] 15. Number of high school girls participating in high school athletic programs in 2004: 2,865,299 [table 1237] 16. Number of volunteer youth-sports coaches certified by the National Youth Sports Coaches Association since 1981: 1.8 million 17. Number of registered players youth under 19 registered at U.S. Youth Soccer in 1974: 100.000 18. Number of registered players youth under 19 registered at U.S. Youth Soccer today: 3.8 million 19. Number of blind and visually impaired athletes trained by the United States Association of Blind Athletes: more than 3,000 competing in nine sports 20. Number of disabled athletes trained by the National Ability Center in Salt Lake City when it opened in 1986: under 50 21. Number of disabled athletes trained by the National Ability Center in Salt Lake City in 2005:over 10,000 22. Average annual salary for a player in the National Basketball Associationin 2005-2006: $5 million 23. Highest paid NBA player of 2005-06: Shaquille O'Neal (Miami) $20 million 24. Median household income in the United States in 2004: $44,389 25. Average annual salary for a secondary school teacher in the United States in May 2007: $52,450 26. Average annual salary for a lawyer in the United States in May 2007: $118,218 27. Average annual salary for a family doctor in the United States in May 2007: $153,640 28. Average cost of stadium construction in the 1950s: $3.8 million [Source : Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2000] 29. Average cost of stadium construction in the 1990s: $200 million [Source: Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 2000] 30. Estimated value of the New York Yankees baseball franchise: $950 million 31. The United States hosted Olympicr Games on eight occasions. Summer Games took place in St. Louis, Missouri (1904), Los Angeles, California (1932 and 1984), and in Atlanta, Georgia (1996). Winter Games were held in Lake Placid, New York (1932 and 1980), Squaw Valley, California (1960), and in Salt Lake City, Utah (2002).

Texts are abridged from U.S. State Department IIP publications and other U.S. government materials.

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U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany /Public Affairs/ Information Resource Centers  Updated: May 2008