Part II: 15th Annual SFIA/NFHS/NCAA Team Sports Rules Conference — The Inside Scoop (Day 2)
The second day of the 15th annual SFIA/NFHS/NCAA Team Sports Rules Conference featured two of the most anticipated sessions of the virtual event. Mike Oliver, Executive Director of NOCSAE, reviewed the progress in standards NOCSAE has achieved in its 50 year history. Tom Cove, President & CEO of SFIA, presented his annual State of the Team Sports Industry Report reviewing a year of COVID-driven challenges.
Many years ago, SFIA (then, SGMA) played a decisive role in the foundation of NOCSAE and its growth over the past 50 years and continues to serve as a key partner in the development of standards for athletic equipment. Mr. Oliver reviewed the development of NOCSAE standards, which are the most demanding sports equipment standards in the world. With 50 years of experience, NOCSAE has been certified by ANSI as an internationally accredited standards writing body. NOCSAE’s mandatory independent third-party certification program, partnered with SEI (Safety Equipment Institute) demands the highest performance results on compliance demands and mandatory quality assurance requirements of any domestic consumer products program. A consumer who uses a product with the NOCSAE/SEI certification label can be assured the product is athlete-focused, protecting athletes since 1970.
According to Tom Cove, President & CEO of SFIA, based on SFIA research, “Coming out of a year dominated by Covid challenges, the team sports industry is in a position to rebound in 2021.” Scholastic sports suffered from lost seasons while certain segments of the industry, including outdoor activities like golf, tennis and home fitness, had major gains. While 2020 was a difficult year, the availability of vaccines, schools opening again and youth sports restarting are factors that will contribute to a resurgence in participation and sells in 2021.
The April jobs report was ahead of estimates and Covid relief programs delivered significant money to American families, fueling pent-up demand for team sports products and opportunities. Beyond the growth coming back from the pandemic lockdown, sports will be driven by major events, such as the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 and the Soccer FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Government policies which include the possible passage of the PHIT Act in 2021, additional Covid relief funding, money allocated through the Land & Water Conservation Fund for outdoor activities, new sports facilities as part of the Biden Infrastructure Bill and states dedicating funds to grow youth sports will support our return to play.
There are a number of societal issues which will affect sports in the coming year. Various reforms at the NCAA and Olympic level including Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) for athletes, transgender athletes’ rights and the loss of non-revenue sports at the collegiate level will all effect change on the landscape of sports.
For information on research developed or the State of the Industry Report by SFIA, please contact Alex Kerman at SFIA, at akerman@sfia.org.
