New research ranks 55 cities across all 50 states on six weighted indicators, revealing where youth athletic access has collapsed, and why.
‍
MINNEAPOLIS, Monday, July 20. Players Health and the Players Health Foundation today released the Sports Desert Index, a first-of-its-kind interactive research study mapping where youth athletic access has broken down across the United States. The study identifies "sports deserts," or communities where children have little or no access to organized sports, and ranks 55 cities in all 50 states across six weighted indicators of cost, poverty, family structure, participation, and institutional disinvestment.
‍
The findings are stark. Twelve cities register "critical" desert conditions, 23 are "severe," and 20 are "elevated." Sports deserts appear in every region of the country: 16 in the South, 14 in the Midwest, 13 in the West, and 12 in the Northeast. That spread is evidence that the erosion of youth sports access is a national crisis, not a regional one. The most acute deserts include Gary, Indiana; East St. Louis, Illinois; Camden, New Jersey; Youngstown, Ohio; Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Detroit, Michigan; and Flint, Michigan, several of them cities that once produced generations of professional and Olympic athletes.

WHAT'S DRIVING THE GAP

The Sports Desert Index scores each community on six weighted factors, drawing a comprehensive picture
of both economic hardship and the disappearance of local sports infrastructure:

The study documents how municipal bankruptcies, school-athletics cuts, recreation-center closures, and decades of disinvestment have dismantled the infrastructure that once made sports available to every child. In Detroit, for example, more than half of the city's recreation centers closed over a single decade; in city after city, club sports have migrated to wealthier suburbs, leaving the children with the greatest need the urthest from a field.

THE INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE

The Index is designed to be explored, not just read. Users can click into any of the 55 cities to see what is driving its access gap, the specific institutional failures behind it, and the concrete opportunities to reverse it. An interactive national map, a city-by-city index, and state rankings let researchers, funders, policymakers, and community leaders examine the data at every level.

METHODOLOGY

The Sports Desert Index draws on U.S. Census American Community Survey five-year estimates at the zip-code level, Aspen Institute Project Play surveys, the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, and Sports & Fitness Industry Association data, combined into a single weighted score for each community.

EXPLORE & SUPPORT

The full interactive Sports Desert Index is available now at sportsdesrts.netlify.app. To support the Players Health Foundation's work to expand access and safety in youth sports, visit playershealthfoundation.com.

ABOUT PLAYERS HEALTH

Players Health is a sports insurance and athlete-safety technology company on a mission to create a world where sports are safe, accessible, and equitable. Through its PH Risk OS platform, Players Health helps sports organizations manage risk and protect athletes across youth and amateur sports, fitness, collegiate, and K-12, with golf clubs coming soon. Learn more at playershealth.com.

ABOUT THE PLAYERS HEALTH FOUNDATION

The Players Health Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Players Health, working to protect kids and power possibilities by making youth sports safer and more accessible for every child. The Foundation serves as a catalyst for change, partnering with communities, funders, and sports organizations to restore access and strengthen safety in youth sports nationwide. Learn more at playershealthfoundation.com.

‍