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SURFING DEMOGRAPHICS : 1,8 million " surfers " in the US in 1999 but 300,000 are hardcore

The American Sports Data (ASD) Superstudy claims 1,736,000 people surfed in the United States in 1999 -- a 24-percent increase from its 1998 figure.But it doesn't take formal research to know that more surfers are in the water now than ever.
But how reliable is this ASD number, and what other data exists to support it? Unfortunately, getting a figure on just how many surfers there are in the United States can only be gained by cross-pollinating scattered, somewhat-reliable pockets of data -- including professional market surveys, dealer/consumer surveys, surf-organization membership lists, magazine circulation figures, and hardgoods sales estimates.
Thrown on the table and pieced together, do these bits form a believable picture of who's actually in the lineup and who's just watching from the beach? And how does all of this affect business? Let's take a closer look.- Friday January 5, 2001.

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