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Americans love spectator sports. This is never more apparent than during the week of a championship game such as the Super Bowl. Nationwide during 2012, employment in the spectator sports industry averaged slightly less than 130,000. The spectator sports industry includes all businesses primarily engaged in presenting live sporting events before a paying audience, including baseball, basketball, and football games (both minor and major leagues), as well as horse racing and other sporting events.
Employment in spectator sports, by metropolitan area, 2012
Metropolitan area
Employment
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
7,508
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
7,467
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
6,890
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
4,451
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
3,911
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
3,477
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
3,286
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
2,923
Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
2,877
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
2,616
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
2,459
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
2,044
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
1,967
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
1,667
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO
1,583
Lexington-Fayette, KY
1,544
Pittsburgh, PA
1,520
Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
1,517
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
1,498
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
1,445
St. Louis, MO-IL
1,394
Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN
1,339
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
1,295
Jacksonville, FL
1,118
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
1,096
Oklahoma City, OK
1,031
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
1,006
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA
948
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA
881
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
824
Columbus, OH
781
Salt Lake City, UT
743
Rochester, NY
689
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
666
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
662
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
583
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
583
Hot Springs, AR
579
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
482
Binghamton, NY
477
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
457
Richmond, VA
457
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
449
Fresno, CA
439
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
413
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
332
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
324
Ocala, FL
308
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
294
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
286
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
279
Evansville, IN-KY
252
Spokane, WA
247
Tucson, AZ
234
Dayton, OH
217
Winston-Salem, NC
216
Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC
214
Bakersfield-Delano, CA
205
Tulsa, OK
205
Anchorage, AK
202
Albuquerque, NM
200
Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA
191
Reading, PA
186
Mobile, AL
175
Cedar Rapids, IA
175
Birmingham-Hoover, AL
164
Reno-Sparks, NV
154
Colorado Springs, CO
153
Lancaster, PA
140
Erie, PA
139
Midland, TX
138
Charleston, WV
129
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
122
Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, SC
119
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
113
Lincoln, NE
111
Dover, DE
109
Visalia-Porterville, CA
108
Bloomington-Normal, IL
103
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY
102
York-Hanover, PA
95
Altoona, PA
92
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
85
Greeley, CO
79
Trenton-Ewing, NJ
79
Roanoke, VA
79
South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI
78
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC
75
Wheeling, WV-OH
74
Great Falls, MT
71
El Paso, TX
70
Baton Rouge, LA
63
Provo-Orem, UT
59
Yakima, WA
55
Salinas, CA
53
Janesville, WI
53
Modesto, CA
52
Grand Junction, CO
51
Gulfport-Biloxi, MS
51
Boulder, CO
48
Burlington, NC
48
Stockton, CA
47
State College, PA
46
Coeur d'Alene, ID
40
Las Cruces, NM
40
Ogden-Clearfield, UT
38
Vallejo-Fairfield, CA
33
Dubuque, IA
32
Yuba City, CA
30
St. Cloud, MN
30
Medford, OR
30
Glens Falls, NY
29
Spartanburg, SC
29
Rochester, MN
27
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
26
Chico, CA
22
Wilmington, NC
22
Canton-Massillon, OH
22
Idaho Falls, ID
19
Springfield, IL
19
College Station-Bryan, TX
19
Bremerton-Silverdale, WA
19
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA
19
Naples-Marco Island, FL
18
St. Joseph, MO-KS
18
Fairbanks, AK
16
Abilene, TX
16
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
16
Bellingham, WA
16
Lebanon, PA
15
Pocatello, ID
13
Madera-Chowchilla, CA
12
Charlottesville, VA
12
Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach, FL
9
Kingston, NY
9
St. George, UT
6
Lubbock, TX
5
Monroe, LA
3
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida, and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania (site of the 2014 Super Bowl), were the metropolitan areas with the highest spectator sports employment; each had approximately 7,500 workers in the industry. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California, had slightly fewer than 7,000.
Employment in spectator sports in the two metropolitan areas that are home to the teams playing in the Super Bowl—Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington, and Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado—was roughly 2,500 and 1,500, respectively. About 30 of the nation's metropolitan areas had more than 1,000 people employed in spectator sports. (Note that these data are annual average employment for 2012. Data for some areas may be unavailable because they do not meet disclosure standards.)
Over the past decade, total spectator sports employment has averaged between roughly 125,000 and 135,000. Employment in spectator sports has been quite seasonal, varying by approximately 50,000 between minimums occurring each winter in January and February and maximums each summer in June, July, and August.
Spectator sports employment reached recent peaks of slightly over 160,000 during the summers of 2007 and 2008. During the last decade, employment has dipped below 100,000 (but remained above 98,000) only during the winters of 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2011.
These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program, which publishes quarterly counts of employment and wages at the county, metropolitan area, state and national levels by industry. These employment data are based only on privately owned establishments whose primary activity is the spectator sports industry; state or local government establishments are not included.
United States Department of Labor
