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Employment in sports teams and clubs

November 03, 2021

An old trivia question asks how many days a year there are without any professional major league sports competitions. BLS is not the source of an answer to that question, but BLS can tell you how many people are employed by sports teams and clubs and whether employment may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sports teams and clubs employment normally varies during the year as sports seasons begin and end. Before 2020, sports teams and clubs employment had been growing to over 100,000 during the late spring and summer, then dropping to roughly 70,000 to 80,000 during the winter.

 Sports teams and clubs employment, selected metropolitan areas and U.S. total, January 2017–March 2021
Month U.S. total New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

Jan 2017

68,618 3,085 2,977 2,533 3,476 2,525 614 1,932 1,857 1,436

Feb 2017

67,128 2,957 3,102 2,051 3,432 1,699 655 1,987 1,505 1,528

Mar 2017

76,355 3,299 3,775 2,893 3,523 1,323 746 2,859 2,175 1,586

Apr 2017

103,708 3,804 3,961 3,518 5,076 2,613 1,978 2,230 2,327 1,601

May 2017

103,411 4,230 4,087 3,792 4,516 2,590 2,083 2,299 2,301 1,595

Jun 2017

107,910 4,561 3,942 3,848 3,733 2,666 2,084 2,289 2,513 1,710

Jul 2017

109,030 4,281 4,050 3,977 4,160 2,788 2,067 2,177 2,504 1,846

Aug 2017

114,877 5,084 4,071 4,167 4,615 3,185 1,978 2,454 2,520 1,942

Sep 2017

100,070 4,534 4,185 3,528 3,716 3,464 1,819 2,343 2,310 1,999

Oct 2017

84,304 4,145 3,694 3,622 4,081 3,535 833 2,371 2,548 1,766

Nov 2017

75,590 3,642 3,010 2,549 3,279 2,909 730 2,086 2,247 1,721

Dec 2017

73,169 3,361 3,126 2,781 3,351 2,877 758 1,674 2,014 1,707

Jan 2018

69,123 3,464 3,143 2,976 3,994 2,530 879 1,687 1,752 1,786

Feb 2018

69,788 3,295 3,286 2,387 3,920 1,938 965 1,796 1,830 1,682

Mar 2018

83,302 3,727 4,135 3,685 4,405 1,652 995 2,660 2,286 1,766

Apr 2018

104,489 4,140 4,290 3,863 5,532 2,657 2,097 2,188 2,415 1,757

May 2018

105,535 4,546 4,240 4,071 5,029 2,722 2,317 2,392 2,425 1,900

Jun 2018

110,961 4,924 4,148 4,210 5,097 2,765 2,358 2,519 2,493 1,887

Jul 2018

113,197 4,902 4,214 4,346 5,167 2,890 2,263 2,411 2,549 1,958

Aug 2018

116,760 5,156 4,254 4,512 4,479 3,195 2,252 2,849 2,614 2,123

Sep 2018

101,024 4,920 4,141 3,599 4,496 3,500 2,066 2,550 2,370 2,114

Oct 2018

86,474 4,304 3,522 4,008 3,557 3,424 1,705 2,884 2,448 2,122

Nov 2018

79,829 4,142 3,553 2,946 3,696 2,800 996 2,156 2,233 1,802

Dec 2018

77,878 3,614 3,273 2,820 3,840 2,638 1,037 2,115 1,883 1,965

Jan 2019

72,185 3,581 3,551 2,798 4,099 1,750 1,037 1,699 1,791 1,673

Feb 2019

75,480 3,371 3,569 2,997 3,932 1,744 1,304 1,775 1,787 1,712

Mar 2019

90,079 3,882 4,561 3,299 4,458 2,481 1,303 2,769 2,381 1,755

Apr 2019

109,832 4,400 4,561 3,991 5,372 2,827 2,584 2,328 2,528 1,701

May 2019

110,121 4,771 4,500 4,233 5,016 2,913 2,613 2,536 2,512 1,872

Jun 2019

116,503 5,078 4,482 4,802 5,062 2,860 2,720 2,591 2,664 2,033

Jul 2019

115,361 5,326 4,654 4,437 4,578 2,625 2,434 2,448 2,407 1,929

Aug 2019

120,578 5,652 4,779 4,741 4,411 3,649 2,475 2,776 2,497 2,273

Sep 2019

105,298 5,118 4,307 3,783 4,262 3,516 2,221 2,836 2,442 2,163

Oct 2019

88,290 4,322 3,706 3,007 4,560 2,763 1,839 2,701 1,943 2,016

Nov 2019

83,441 4,227 3,620 3,447 3,895 2,959 1,185 2,301 1,925 1,982

Dec 2019

82,444 4,338 3,321 3,071 3,813 2,979 1,140 2,063 1,858 2,063

Jan 2020

80,357 4,114 3,421 3,356 4,067 3,369 2,444 1,890 2,085 1,961

Feb 2020

82,330 4,001 3,803 2,971 4,086 2,482 2,470 1,858 1,944 1,824

Mar 2020

87,459 4,177 4,095 3,155 3,965 2,840 2,669 2,600 2,019 1,809

Apr 2020

62,489 3,421 3,066 2,340 2,617 2,585 2,418 1,456 1,294 1,354

May 2020

57,779 3,371 2,864 1,893 2,344 2,463 2,141 1,634 1,216 1,314

Jun 2020

54,099 3,328 2,557 1,901 2,131 1,861 1,718 1,520 1,199 1,271

Jul 2020

54,533 3,262 2,495 1,914 2,356 2,266 1,351 1,271 1,317 1,343

Aug 2020

59,161 3,548 2,632 2,444 2,590 1,816 1,383 1,441 1,383 1,517

Sep 2020

56,910 3,385 2,404 1,931 2,604 1,820 1,311 1,667 1,452 1,357

Oct 2020

56,755 3,359 2,820 1,826 2,379 2,073 1,366 1,714 1,498 1,412

Nov 2020

53,032 3,190 2,684 1,748 2,400 1,766 1,238 1,577 1,455 1,443

Dec 2020

53,319 3,169 2,421 1,788 2,354 1,920 1,504 1,439 1,386 1,244

Jan 2021

52,257 2,896 2,273 1,855 2,304 1,895 1,598 1,250 1,407 1,266

Feb 2021

52,441 3,020 2,425 1,804 2,250 1,767 1,652 1,345 1,409 1,292

Mar 2021

58,373 3,092 2,813 2,567 2,490 2,133 1,709 1,600 1,548 1,322



 Sports teams and clubs employment, selected metropolitan areas and U.S. total, January 2017–March 2021 (continued)
Month Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Raleigh, NC Pittsburgh, PA Salt Lake City, UT St. Louis, MO-IL Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Reading, PA Worcester, MA-CT

Jan 2017

2,299 367 1,756 1,016 727 1,274 750 719 96 15

Feb 2017

1,966 694 1,768 1,053 731 648 986 683 98 23

Mar 2017

2,038 911 1,785 1,185 790 768 789 716 83 35

Apr 2017

2,701 545 1,353 1,893 860 1,710 1,030 791 224 31

May 2017

2,547 458 769 1,948 780 1,853 986 804 220 38

Jun 2017

2,729 431 733 2,009 669 1,962 1,037 806 219 77

Jul 2017

2,627 495 1,061 1,736 761 1,748 1,052 869 228 59

Aug 2017

2,677 420 693 2,043 751 1,811 1,065 907 194 50

Sep 2017

2,339 311 1,329 1,743 762 1,745 925 937 76 25

Oct 2017

1,537 331 1,505 1,114 889 1,445 946 759 104 41

Nov 2017

1,185 328 1,577 1,015 952 761 846 771 78 42

Dec 2017

1,157 327 1,528 902 932 705 704 820 146 42

Jan 2018

1,076 385 1,523 1,008 883 682 734 575 110 84

Feb 2018

1,085 686 1,566 1,144 916 715 920 625 108 93

Mar 2018

1,107 982 1,548 1,175 1,003 1,151 910 771 112 96

Apr 2018

2,028 575 1,403 1,659 1,083 1,791 946 776 267 99

May 2018

1,819 502 990 1,701 915 1,902 1,033 797 269 77

Jun 2018

1,925 465 1,243 1,595 821 2,012 954 859 256 93

Jul 2018

1,773 505 573 1,598 829 1,883 989 839 257 96

Aug 2018

1,869 426 1,073 1,756 849 1,814 1,023 839 240 94

Sep 2018

1,835 351 1,407 1,619 814 1,832 935 872 110 57

Oct 2018

1,828 342 1,518 1,100 907 869 913 850 134 77

Nov 2018

1,315 339 1,534 999 915 799 787 673 103 91

Dec 2018

1,166 371 1,471 1,022 910 802 770 701 99 87

Jan 2019

1,097 512 1,543 917 906 710 788 632 102 62

Feb 2019

1,118 799 1,559 1,177 860 733 765 678 102 69

Mar 2019

1,238 1,096 1,650 1,235 1,062 1,239 800 827 103 67

Apr 2019

1,911 879 1,768 1,577 1,136 1,896 876 896 234 104

May 2019

1,827 648 1,718 1,389 894 1,965 1,000 923 245 62

Jun 2019

1,885 543 1,407 1,432 892 1,914 1,143 926 236 117

Jul 2019

1,610 631 1,368 1,528 851 1,925 1,107 865 262 110

Aug 2019

1,755 535 1,446 1,778 819 1,753 1,094 1,000 247 78

Sep 2019

1,679 380 1,436 1,506 819 1,946 1,030 954 225 54

Oct 2019

1,530 466 1,667 1,227 912 1,783 918 935 85 53

Nov 2019

1,511 486 1,617 1,134 951 963 885 751 80 55

Dec 2019

1,414 508 1,583 1,071 884 849 823 813 79 66

Jan 2020

1,498 551 1,619 837 910 800 829 715 94 59

Feb 2020

1,504 1,002 1,705 852 901 830 1,056 669 90 61

Mar 2020

1,509 1,154 1,744 1,097 946 1,101 1,165 934 81 59

Apr 2020

1,706 579 309 1,633 538 592 697 950 41 28

May 2020

1,613 566 261 1,507 439 537 693 955 41 35

Jun 2020

1,648 511 307 559 430 587 571 641 40 33

Jul 2020

930 504 286 679 482 611 555 628 41 47

Aug 2020

1,035 556 303 833 491 718 573 781 39 52

Sep 2020

1,022 310 283 776 499 791 610 617 41 36

Oct 2020

976 426 289 636 493 620 616 641 38 38

Nov 2020

949 293 263 590 565 525 567 530 39 35

Dec 2020

1,014 405 255 586 584 513 551 586 38 21

Jan 2021

767 441 361 495 564 537 547 573 39 19

Feb 2021

811 520 419 562 612 560 565 560 39 24

Mar 2021

860 794 706 701 699 616 582 554 39 20

Note: Total includes areas not shown separately. Data for the most recent quarter are preliminary.

Sports teams and clubs employment reached a recent peak of 120,578 in August 2019. In 2020, employment reached a maximum of 87,459 in March. After the COVID-19 recession ended in April 2020, employment in sports teams and clubs was only 59,161 in August 2020, before declining to a low of near 52,000 during January and February 2021.

In the New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area, employment peaked at 5,652 in August 2019 and dropped to 2,896 in January 2021. In Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, employment peaked at 4,779 in August 2019 and decreased to 2,273 in January 2021. In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, sports teams employment peaked in June 2019 at 4,802 and in November 2020 dropped to 1,748.

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Data for 2021 are preliminary. Employment data for the nation, states, counties, and metropolitan areas are available in the QCEW Data Viewer tool. The sports teams and clubs industry is made up of professional or semiprofessional sports teams or clubs primarily engaged in participating in live sporting events, such as baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and other sports, before a paying audience. These businesses may or may not operate their own arenas, stadiums, or similar facilities.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment in sports teams and clubs at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/employment-in-sports-teams-and-clubs.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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