Football (activity, Apparel Or Equipment)
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Sports & Recreation Equipment · CPSC Code 1211
Down 31% over 5 years
The verdict
Football (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) carry a danger score of 43/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 369,776 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 31% over the last five years.
- 43/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 369,776
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 2.2%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1211 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 43/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for football (activity, apparel or equipment) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume369,776 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)2.2%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-31%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Football (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) (CPSC product code 1211, in the Sports & Recreation Equipment category) generate an estimated 369,776 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 7.4M ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 43/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 31% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2010 (489,676 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (122,181 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for football (activity, apparel or equipment) is strain, sprain to the ankle, accounting for approximately 496,965 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by concussion to the head (465,630 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 3.7M cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 2.2% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 4 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how football (activity, apparel or equipment) fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 16,797 | 2,956 | |
| 5-14 | 3.5M | 201,911 | |
| 15-24 | 2.8M | 152,738 | |
| 25-34 | 374,106 | 49,004 | |
| 35-44 | 143,994 | 28,581 | |
| 45-54 | 52,499 | 10,293 | |
| 55-64 | 15,409 | 4,183 | |
| 65-74 | 5,070 | 2,208 | |
| 75+ | 2,134 | 904 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Finger | Fracture | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Knee | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Strain, Sprain | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Shoulder | Fracture | |
| Lower Arm | Fracture | |
| Wrist | Fracture | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Knee | Other | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Neck | Strain, Sprain |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
38YOM PRESENTS WITH RIGHT SHOULDER PAIN AFTER HE FELL DURING FLAG FOOTBALL PRACTICE, PROVIDER BELIEVES PAIN IS LIKELY JUST DUE TO CONTUSION OF HIS SHOULDER DX: RIGHT SHOULDER PAIN
23 YOM WITH RIGHT ANKLE PAIN AFTER FOOTBALL 1 WEEK PTA. DX SPRAIN RIGHT ANKLE
7YOM RIGHT KNEE PAIN AFTER FALLING PLAYING FOOTBALL DX: ACUTE PAIN OF RIGHT KNEE
11YOM PATIENT WAS PLAYING FOOTBALL AND JAMMED HIS FINGER DX: NONDISPLACED FRACTURE OF PROXIMAL PHALANX OF LEFT LITTLE FINGER, CLOSED FRACTURE, INJURY WHILE PLAYING AMERICAN FOOTBALL
8YOF WAS PLAYING FOOTBALL AND JAMMED RIGHT FIFTH FINGER DX: CONTUSION FINGER
30 YOF PRESENTS WITH LEFT SHOULDER AND NECK PAIN AFTER PLAYING FOOTBALL YESTERDAY. SHE WAS GOING FOR A TACKLE, HAD HER LEFT ARM OUT, SAYS SHE GOT SPUN AROUND AND FELT AN IMMEDIATE PAIN IN HER LEFT NECK AND FELL TO THE GROUND DX LEFT-SIDED NECK STRAIN
29YOM WITH ABDOMINAL WALL CONTUSION DURING FOOTBALL DX: ABD WALL CONTUSION
15YOM, A FRIEND WAS SWINGING A BAG WITH FOOTBALL CLEATS IN IT AND ACCIDENTALLY STRUCK HIS FACE, DX: LACERATION OF RIGHT EYEBROW
23YOF WAS HIT IN THE LEFT EYE WITH A FOOTBALL DX: LEFT EYE HYPHEMA
15YOM WAS PLAYING FOOTBALL IN PE CLASS AND ROLLED RIGHT ANKLE DX RIGHT ANKLE INJURY
10YOF WAS AT PARK PLAYING FOOTBALL AND TRIED TO CATCH BALL. DX FINGER FX
9YOM PLAYING FOOTBALL AND CAUGHT BALL AND FELL TO GROUND DX: CHI, CONCUSSION, CONTUSION FOREHEAD
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
My 10-year-old son suffered a deep laceration near the elbow that was caused by the top snap of an Under Armour Gameday Chin Strap. The injury, which was highly traumatic, resulted in an emergency room visit where doctors sedated my son and performed 3 internal stitches and 11 external stitches. The incident happened during practice when the team was working on tackling fundamentals. My son, who's approximately 80 lbs., was running the ball and tackled by another 10-year-old of roughly the same weight. It was a normal tackle with little impact that resulted in the top snap of the chin strap on the tacklers helmet cutting my sons arm near the elbow. The doctors insisted that the snap punctured the arm and then tore the first and second levels of skin, resulting in significant blood loss, severe pain, and immense trauma. The cut was so deep that the doctors were concerned that it may have severed ligaments, tendons, and nerves in the area of the elbow.
Football chin strapped causes laceration to my teenage right arm. Which resulted in him getting stitches
We purchased Under Armour Brawler Football cleats for our son. During the first football game of the season while in the middle of a play the entire sole of the shoe came flying off.
all pro passer robotic quarterback. I t cut my grandson head in 2 spots and a purple knot from the plastic end
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to football (activity, apparel or equipment) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are football (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, football (activity, apparel or equipment) have a danger score of 43/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 369,776 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from football (activity, apparel or equipment)?
The most common injury is strain, sprain to the ankle, accounting for approximately 496,965 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from football (activity, apparel or equipment) increasing or decreasing?
Down 31% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for football (activity, apparel or equipment) injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 3.7M cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by football (activity, apparel or equipment)?
Of all ER visits involving football (activity, apparel or equipment), approximately 2.2% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (97.8%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with football (activity, apparel or equipment)?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Sports & Recreation Equipment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 43/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 5-14 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
