Paintball participation in the U.S. 2010-2023

Paintball is a non-traditional extreme sport in which two teams use air guns with colored gelatin capsules filled with paint to shoot at each other. Games can be played indoor, outdoor, and on natural or artificial terrain. Since 2021, the activity has been increasing in popularity, with the annual number of paintball participants in the U.S. amounted to 2.67 million in 2023, up from 2.56 in 2021.

Paintball industry in the U.S.

Between 2010 and 2018, the market size of the paintball fields industry in the U.S. increased by 38.5 percent, after which the market size declined slightly each year until 2020. Despite a slight increase in the number of paintball businesses in the U.S., figures for 2021 were still below the peak count which was set in 2018. On the other hand, employment within the U.S. paintball industry was at an all-time high in 2021, with forecasts estimating further growth in 2022.

Paintball equipment

The wholesale sales of paintball equipment in the U.S. were significantly lower in 2021 than in 2007. The wholesale sales value of U.S. paintball equipment was about 53.6 percent lower in 2021 than in 2007. However, the U.S. air gun and airsoft gun manufacturing industry was expected to decline by 1.2 percent in 2022.