Over the past twenty years, the culture that surrounds sports across the globe has completely changed. This is due to so many different factors and it is hard to pin this change down to just one factor. But one thing remains to be true, the world around us is constantly changing.
One of the huge changes over just the past decade involves the rise of what many views as alternative sports. These are sports that exist outside the norms of sports like baseball, football, and basketball. These sports include sports that are held at teh X Games for instance. This can include snowmobiling, skateboarding, and snowboarding as well.
The first X Games was held in the year of 1995 and at this first event, there were over 198,000 people in attendance. So even from the beginning, the X Games found a legitimate audience that would come and attend their events. So this just goes to show that even when they first started, sports like snowmobiling clearly had a strong group of people interested in it.
The highest attendance record for any X Games came in 1999 when almost 270,000 people attended the event. In 2017, total X Games attendance was 215,000. So there is no question that over the course of 18 years, the audience for alternative sports has managed to stay strong.
Motorsports are the types of sports that involve snowmobiling. The other motorsports that are popular involved dirt bikes, at dealers, motorcycling, and much more. Just under 41,000 all-terrain vehicles were sold to customers in the United States between January and March 2017.
Global spending on motorsports sanctioning bodies, teams and tracks was projected to total $5.58 billion in 2016, this resulted in a near 3% increase from the year of 2015. So this goes to show that even as of late, motorsports including snowmobiling are continuing to grow. As the years go on, it is hard to believe that this trend will stop.
Sponsorships are now becoming a huge deal for people who are involved in motorsports like snowmobiling. In the year of 2012, global motorsports sponsorship spending totaled $4.97 billion. In the following year of 2013, global motorsports sponsorship spending totaled $5.12 billion. Then, in the next year of 2014, global motorsports sponsorship spending totaled $5.26 billion.
Snowmobile equipment and snowmobile dealers are now hot on the market due to the popularity of these types of motorsports. when motorsports have a larger, more mainstream audience, it means that the common person is more likely to try snowmobiling in their spare time when they want to have fun.
Last year, there were 118,657 snowmobiles sold worldwide; 50,659 were sold in the U.S. and 44,161 were sold in Canada. Currently, there are over 1.2 million registered snowmobiles in the US and over 600,000 registered snowmobiles in Canada. So even within North America, data clearly shows the rising popularity of snowmobiling.
Over 100,000 full-time jobs are generated by the snowmobile industry in North America. Snowmobiling has had a huge impact on the worldwide economy. In the United States, it generates nearly $26 billion each year. In Europe and Russia, it generates nearly $5 billion annually. Finally, in Canada, it manages to generate almost $8 billion.
In Conclusion
Anyone that is interested in getting on a snowmobile needs to make sure they are educated on how to use this machine. If you make just one mistake you can end up getting seriously hurt on a snowmobile. They may be very fun motorsport machgines to get on, but if you use them improperly it can be dangerous.
