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History and the Census: James Naismith and the Development of Basketball

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Students played the first game of basketball developed by James Naismith on December 21, 1891.  The sport  has since become the most popular high school sport in the United States with nearly 900,000 of the nation's 72,325,602 school-age children playing on school teams.

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History and the Census: James Naismith and the Development of Basketball

On December 21, 1891, 18 students from the International Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, played the first game of basketball following the 13 rules for the game developed by 31-year-old graduate student and teacher James Naismith.  The sport was quickly adopted by schools throughout the United States.  Today, basketball is the most popular sport in American high schools and professional basketball is one of the most popular sports by viewership nationwide.

Dr. Seuss Postage Stamp from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum

James Naismith developed the game of basketball in Springfield, MA.  The first game based on his rules was played at Springfield College on December 21, 1891. 

Born in Canada in 1861, James Naismith was an outstanding athlete who earned a degree in physical education at Montreal's McGill University and theology at Presbyterian College, Montreal.  While pursuing a graduate degree at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts—known today as Springfield College—he was inspired to invent the game of basketball.  During a summer session at the school, one of Naismith's professors challenged he class to develop a new, safe, and easy-to-learn sport for students that could be played indoors during the cold winter by artificial light.

Naismith borrowed aspects of several sports to develop his new game using a soccer ball and wooden peach basket "goals."  His 13 rules for the game of "basket ball" included how the ball would move about the court, actions that resulted in "fouls," game timing, scoring, referee's duties, etc.  Satisfied with the guide he produced, Naismith asked 18 students—two teams of nine each—to play the first game in the school's gymnasium on December 21, 1891.  He published the rules for the new game in the YMCA training school's newspaper Triangle on January 15, 1892.

Soon after its introduction, Naismith and other early proponents of the sport refined the game's play and equipment.  Naismith replaced the soccer ball used to play early games with a customized "basket ball" created according to his own specifications in 1894.  For more than a decade, players lobbed the ball into closed-bottom baskets or nets that required manual retrieval after scoring each point.  Wood peach baskets nailed to the wall were replaced by open-bottomed wood, wire, or cast iron rims in about 1906.  The metal-rimmed, open net basketball hoop attached to a backboard used today became the sport's standard design in 1913.

As students learned the new game, basketball became a popular indoor sport for both sexes to play during the cold winter months.  Smith College Athletic Director Sendra Berenson modified the sport for women and oversaw the first women's college basketball game between the school's freshman and sophomore classes in March 1893.  By the mid-1890s, the first intercollegiate men's and women's games were taking place.  The sport was introduced as a demonstration sport at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri; a men's medal event at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany; and a women's event beginning with 1976 Olympic games in Montreal, Canada.  The National Basketball League founded the first professional basketball league in 1898.  Although it and other early professional leagues failed, the Basketball Association of American and National Basketball League's 1949 merger succeeded in creating the enormously successful National Basketball Association (NBA) boasting 30 teams in the United States and Canada.  In 1996, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) was founded with 12 teams in the United States.

Thanks to James Naismith's ingenuity, millions of Americans are members of school- and community-sponsored basketball teams, watch college and professional basketball games in person or on television, and spend their free time shooting hoops with friends at basketball courts located in cities and towns throughout the United States today.  The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) action-packed "March Madness" games are so popular that the Division 1 college championship generates most of the organization's annual revenue.  Professional basketball is also incredibly popular with fans eager to attend games in person and purchase team merchandise.  During the 2023-24 season, the NBA reported that professional basketball saw a record $13 billion in league-wide revenue that boosted the value of the league-leading Golden State Warriors basketball team to $8.8 billion!

You can learn more about James Naismith and basketball from Census Bureau data and records such as:

  • James Naismith began developing the rules for the game of basketball soon after moving to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1890.  According to the 1890 Census, the population of the western Massachusetts city was 44,179.  According to data collected by the American Community Survey in 2023, Springfield was home to 153,672 people, many of them enjoy some of the city's popular museums, including the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball of Fame.
  • Seven years after inventing the game, Naismith became the first basketball coach at the University of Kansas in 1898.  Ironically, with a coaching record of 55 wins and 60 loses over nine seasons, Naismith is the only losing coach in the university's history!  Two years after Naismith accepted the head coaching position, the 1900 Census reported that Lawrence, Kansas—home to the main campus of the University of Kansas—had a population of 10,862.  Naismith lived in Lawrence until his death in November 1939 when the city had a population of approximately 14,390.  Today, Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County and the state's sixth-largest city with 96,207 inhabitants.
  • In addition to halls of fame for basketball, baseball, football, and hockey, many other sports honor notable athletes with their own halls of fame.  For example, many sports fans enjoy visiting the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Commack, New York, and the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in Irvine, California.  Other halls of fame include the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island; NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina; National Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
  • Basketball courts have traditionally featured hardwood floors.  Hardwood flooring provides the shock absorption, feel underfoot, consistency, and durability that athletes and gymnasium owners prefer.  Data about hardwood floor manufacturers are collected within NAICS sector 321918, Other millwork (including flooring).  In 2022, the Census Bureau' County Business Patterns series reported there were 1,516 Other millwork (including flooring) establishments in the United States.  That same year, hardwood floor installations were performed by some of the nation's 18,069 Flooring contractors (NAICS 238330).  During the pay period that included March 12, 2022, Flooring contractors reported having 85,815 employees and an annual payroll of more than $4.9 billion.
  • The popularity of basketball and player endorsements of sports equipment has created a thriving retail and collectables market for athletic footwear.  In 2022, the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns series reported there were 224 Footwear manufacturing (NAICS 316210) establishments in the United States.  During the pay period that included March 12, 2022, these establishments had 9,950 employees and an annual payroll of more than $459 million.
  • Speaking of athletic footwear, did you know that the word you use to describe your sports shoes may identify the region of the United States and the world you come from?  For example, athletes in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, shop for "sneakers" before the start of the season.  In Peoria, Illinois, "gym shoes" are on ball players' shopping lists.  In Santa Monica, California, "tennis shoes" are the athletic footwear worn by tennis players as well as participants of many other sports, including basketball, volley ball, track, dodgeball, etc.
  • In 2022, the Census Bureau's American Community Survey reported there were 72,325,602 children in the United States under age 18.  Data from the National Federation of State and High School Associations (NFHS) show most of those students attended schools with basketball programs.  During the 2021-22 school year, the NFHS reported that basketball was the most popular high school sport with 18,428 schools hosting a boys basketball team and 17,901 schools a girls team.  During that year, 521,616 boys and 370,466 girls participated in their schools' basketball programs.
  • Many recreational and aspiring all-star basketball players sharpen their skills at some of the nation's fitness and recreational sports centers.  In 2022, the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns series reported there were 40,786 of these facilities in the United States.  California led the nation with 5,240 establishments, followed by Texas (3,294) and Florida (2,753).
  • Not sure what to do when the basketball season ends?  Perhaps you would enjoy visiting Ballville in Ohio's Sandusky County; shooting hoops in the community of Baskett in Henderson County, Kentucky; scoring points visiting Dunkerton in Back Hawk County, Iowa; showing off your footwork while climbing "The Dribbles" at the Custer Gallatin National Forest's Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman, Montana; throwing an airball in Brick, New Jersey; or getting "nothing but net" along Iron County, Michigan's Net River.
  • The popularity of women's basketball has seen enormous growth in recent years.  In 2024, The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) saw a 305 percent increase in viewership for its 2024 All-Star Game.  Similarly, the NCAA reported that the 2023-2024 Women's basketball final between the Iowa Hawkeyes and South Carolina Gamecocks set a women's basketball viewership record with 18.7 million viewers.  These viewership records are possible thanks to the widespread ownership of televisions and streaming services.  In 2011, the Survey of Income and Program Participation reported that 98.3 percent of households in the United States owned a television.  More recently, data from the Census Bureau's population estimates program showed that 90 percent of households had broadband Internet access that would permit streaming of women's basketball games.

Women's basketball has seen a surge in popularity with NCAA and WNBA games setting multiple attendance and viewership records in 2024.

This Month in Census History

In his Fourth Annual Message to Congress on December 2, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant urged lawmakers to support conducting the census every 5 instead of every 10 years beginning in 1875.  Grant argued a more frequent count would provide more timely mid-decade statistics and provide a better understanding of the nation in its first century.

Congress did not fund the quinquennial census, but the idea never went away.  With the nationwide implementation of the American Community Survey in 2005, the Census Bureau can now provide data about the nation’s population and housing every year.

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Did You Know?

Legalized sports betting is a growing business in many U.S. states and the tax revenue it generates funds various state resources from roads and highways to public education, law enforcement, and gambling addiction programs.

The Census Bureau’s Quarterly Survey of State and Local Tax Revenue (QTAX) recently added sports betting (including pari-mutuels) to the extensive list of state and local tax revenue sources it already tracks.

In the second quarter of 2024—the most recent version of the QTAX—sports betting generated national state level sales tax and gross receipts of $744.48 million, up 34.3% from the same quarter a year before, but down from $796.17 million during the first quarter of 2024.

New York was the state with the largest share of the nation's tax revenue in the second quarter of 2024 with $265.84 million—or more than 35% of total tax revenue and gross receipts from sports betting in the United States—followed by Ohio ($54.92 million) and Illinois ($46.23 million).

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Photo of the Universal City, TX, Library

March Madness

The term "March Madness" was first used in 1908 for a high school basketball tournament held at the University of Illinois in 1908, but it was not applied to the the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 college basketball championship until 1962.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches organized the first college basketball championship tournament that pitted eight teams against each other in single elimination games between March 17 and March 27, 1939.  The final game held in Evanston, Illinois, saw the University of Oregon Webfoots defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes 46–33.

Sportscaster Brett Mushberger used the term "March Madness" to describe the 1962 NCAA basketball tournament for the first time, and the nickname has become synonymous with the championship ever since.

In 2024, March Madness featured 68 men's and women's Division 1 college basketball teams.  After a series of hard-fought single-elimination games, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the University of Iowa Hawkeyes in the April 7 championship game in Cleveland, Ohio, to become the NCAA women's basketball champions.  The next day, the University of Connecticut Huskies defeated the Purdue University Boilermakers 75-60 in the final held in Glendale, Arizona, to become the men's basketball champions.

In 2025, the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, will host the NCAA men's championship game, while the women's tournament is scheduled to wrap up at the University of South Florida's Amalie Arena in Tampa.

 

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Page Last Revised - January 2, 2025
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