- On average, there are 32 federations that are active each year. While USAPL is the biggest federation, there are many others that are less active, are only active in particular states, or cater to particular types of powerlifters. This indicates that new federations get created regularly and other federations end up closing their doors.
- A common idea that you will hear amongst powerlifters is that there has been a huge explosion of federations. The typical argument is that as people get frustrated with their current federation, they leave and go start a new one. The data suggests that this narrative is mainly true. There have been a series of new federations created every year over the past two decades.
- When it comes to these new federations, only about 57% of them will still be conducting meets 3 years after their first year. This really isn’t surprising because few of these new federations can attract the big name lifters who would in turn attract many average powerlifters.
- The top 2 powerlifting federations, USAPL and USPS, account for about 30% of the meets in the United States. Their share of meets has seen substantial growth over the past decade. This isn’t surprising as the USAPL and USPA tend to run better meets.
