Sport Participation Trends 2026: Lessons from Strava Year in Sport 2025 Data

Run Club near Sydney Opera House

It’s that time of year when our favourite apps release their annual data drop, giving us a snapshot of how people are choosing to move, train and connect.

For anyone involved in sport and recreation program design, Strava’s Year in Sport report is a useful proxy for broader sport participation trends. It’s not a perfect mirror of the whole market (no single dataset is), but it’s a massive, real-world sample of how people are actually behaving week to week.

And as one of the few apps I pay to use, I’m always curious to see what the year in review reveals.

In 2025, Strava’s community passed 180 million users, with millions of hours of activities logged. One of the most interesting stats is that subscribers spent around 1 hour moving for every 2 minutes on the app — a rare example of tech that appears designed to get people off their screens and into real-world activity.

So, what does this suggest for sport, fitness and active recreation organisations heading into 2026?

1. Low-barrier movement is booming

Running still leads, but walking is now #2. What does this possibly mean for broader participation trends?

Across the industry, we’ve seen growing demand for options that are:

• easier to start

• lower cost

• flexible in time and commitment

• less intimidating culturally

Walking’s rise reinforces the importance of designing simple, everyday formats that complement traditional competitions. Not everything needs to be a league, ladder or season. There is huge upside in accessible entry points that support health, wellbeing and repeat participation.

For clubs and governing bodies, this can look like social walk/run hybrids, short-format “come and try” series, and non-competitive participation products that sit alongside the core sport pathway.

2. Weekly goals win because they’re forgiving

Strava notes the most popular goal timeframe is weekly, likely because if you fall behind, you get a clean reset in just a few days.

This is a subtle but powerful behaviour insight for member retention and habit formation: people want progress, but they also want grace.

In program terms, this pushes us toward:

• shorter cycles of motivation

• visible micro-wins

• flexible attendance models

• messaging that rewards consistency over perfection

Weekly challenges, streak friendly programming, and low commitment participation packs can be a smarter engagement lever than big annual campaigns that rely on long-term willpower.

3. People want variety… but need better on-ramps

Over half of Strava users record 2+ sports (54%), and 34% track 3+. The modern participant is increasingly multi-activity, and their identity is less tied to one sport.

But here’s the important counterweight: picking up a new sport can feel hard.

Women are 24% more likely than men to say they’re not sure how to start a new sport, and Gen Z is 2x as likely as Gen X to say the same. The barriers Strava highlights — expensive equipment, high speed or intensity, and specialised knowledge/culture, are the same barriers we see across community sport.

This is where the opportunity is.

If we want growth, particularly in younger adults and women’s participation, we need simpler entry paths:

• low-cost starter options

• beginner-friendly sessions

• “no gear needed” versions

• better social signposting (“you belong here even if you’re new”)

4. Exercise is social infrastructure

Kudos, run clubs, and even “run-date” culture point to something bigger than fitness. For many younger adults, sport and fitness are places to build friendships and community.

But the report also hints at a tension worth addressing: many still feel clubs are “for serious runners only.” That’s not just a running issue, it applies to many organised sports.

The big lesson for community sport and active recreation providers is this - People want connection, but only if they feel welcome.

Programs that prioritise belonging, social rituals, and identity building will outperform those that assume performance is the main hook.

The Big Takeaway For 2026 Sport Participation Trends

Strava’s Year in Sport 2025 reinforces a consistent message emerging across the wider participation landscape:

The growth opportunity is in designing more opportunities around:

• connection

• low barriers

• weekly habit loops

• welcoming on-ramps into new sports

For organisations thinking about their 2026 calendars and product mix, this is a useful pressure test: Are we designing for how people actually live now — time poor, choice rich, socially motivated - or for how sport has traditionally been organised?

Because the organisations that get that balance right will be the ones that grow participation and build stronger, more resilient communities.