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Article: CORE RACQUETBALL PLAYERS DRIVE SALES.
- Article from:
- Rubber & Plastics News
- Article date:
- September 21, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Racquetball took a big hit in national participation during the past decade, but thanks to a core group of fanatical players, the sport is surviving the decline.
In 1987, racquetball had 10.4 million American participants who played at least once per year, according to the American Sports Analysis, an annual survey conducted by American Sports Data Inc. of Hartsdale, N.Y.
But by 1993, national racquetball participation had dipped 28.8 percent to 7.4 million, and by 1997 was down 40.4 percent to 6.2 million, the survey said.
Much of the participation decline was caused by financial constraints at the racquet club level, said a Penn Racquet ...