How many people inline skate

You only have access to basic statistics. This statistic is not included in your account. Skip to main content Try our corporate solution for free! Single Accounts Corporate Solutions Universities. Premium statistics. Read more. This statistic shows the number of participants in roller skating inline wheels in the United States from to In , the number of participants aged six years and above in inline wheel roller skating amounted to approximately 4.

You need a Single Account for unlimited access. Full access to 1m statistics Incl. Single Account. View for free. Show source. Show detailed source information? Register for free Already a member? Log in. More information. Supplementary notes. Other statistics on the topic. Professional Sports Most popular sports activities in England in , by monthly participants. David Lange.

Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. Other than demanding two balanced feet and a fun-loving spirit, inline skating had no age limit or gender preference. On any given day in the s, millions of Americans strapped on their wheeled boots and took to the streets, the parks, and any other place they could find with a smooth pavement.

However, what seemed to be the beginning of an enduring sport ended up falling flat on its feet. Inline skating turned out to be a generational fad, a short-lived novelty in the grand history of non-traditional sports. At the turn of the new millennium, 22 million Americans rolled on these rigid contraptions at least once a year.

By , that figure dropped to 5 million. Inline skating ended up retreating into its own niche, remaining a training tool for serious athletes or going underground for edgy daredevils. The single-line wheeled shoes originated in Europe and got their first patent in Paris in Stickball, Death of a Street Culture.

A staple of teen-age life for much of the 20th century, roller skates were easier to control and were enjoyed in all forms of recreation, from roller derbies to disco skating. The inline versions remained outside the zone of mass popularity until two Midwest brothers rejiggered the design for greater comfort and maneuverability.

Rollerblading, the eponym for inline skating, was named after its successful branding company, Rollerblade, Inc. The latter was founded in by Minnesotans Scott and Brennan Olson, hockey players who were looking for ways to practice their sport in the summer.

At the time, hockey was primarily a winter discipline and few ice arenas were operating in the off-season. The Olsons retrofitted their hockey boots with polyurethane wheels in a straight line and sold the idea to their hockey friends. Stores were already carrying the booted inline skates before the Olsons arrived, but sales to the public were always flat.

There were no TV shows, classic contests or live competitions to intrigue the audience or keep up the popularity quotient. The popular rollerblading bubble was supported by false marketing campaigns that promised learners a sense of freedom. An air was created via TV commercials and magazine ads during the popular days convincing millions of teenagers that they can glide fast, spin quick, and jump high like the pros to experience the extremities of rollerblading.

However, most teenagers felt opposite to the misleading visualization of having fun or feeling cool. Many of the skaters gave up the idea of becoming an extreme rollerblader and ended up with the notion that rollerblading is a thing for the Gumby or gay. The final plunge came from the promoters who were more interested in economically beneficial sports that can generate better revenue. As a result, some non-recreational sports gained the focus of promoters moving rollerblading out of the picture.

They were soon promoting sports on which multiple end-users were ready to spend a penny. The cost of rollerblades was a serious factor when compared with other sports goods. They were three times more expensive than a good skateboard. If you add the maintenance cost as well, they seemed even more expensive. Considering the age of the learner, people had to invest almost every year on the rollerblades for their growing child, unlike other sports goods that were a one-time purchase like a football or a skateboard.

Rollerblading is an extreme sport that requires proper training and consistent practice. You cannot undermine the constant threat of injury if you are negligent to follow the rules or could not comprehend the basics. It takes time to balance on rollerblades.

Learning to stop can be a next-level challenge for beginners. Not to forget, the difficulty of finding a professional instructor to comprehend the intricacies of rollerblading or a safe place to skate, which is devoid of obstacles. Only one in ten bladers were genuinely interested in passing on the knowledge to the younger generation. As the promoters tried to entice maximum viewers by targetting the largest addressable market, judgemental comments about rollerblading were making headlines that generated an air of animosity between the bladers and non-bladers.

The sport soon became a taboo. All this negative approach and support for rollerblading concerning the overall market cap, lack of facilities, and poor pro-athlete salaries made the sport a secondary option for many. Later, the ejection from the famous X Games served as a death knell for rollerblading [ source ].

The sports was already on a decline with less public places to grind, continuous rejection by consumers, and legitimate safety concerns. Similar sports were gradually gaining popularity during the decline of rollerblading.

Sports that required fewer skills like skateboarding or bike riding. Teenagers felt more comfortable driving a bike or riding a skateboard than flailing around goofily on a more difficult-to-master pair of rollerblades. The awkwardness of first-time rollerblading and unstable body language during the learning phases made people conceive strange hunches and develop unrealistic notions regarding the aggressive aspects of rollerblading.

As a result, more people switched to sports that required fewer skills to get going. Is it difficult to rollerblade when you are a beginner? Rollerblading is indeed a difficult sport that requires you to learn and master the basics well. You may require dedicated hours and days of practice before you can master the skills.