Whether you are in middle school, high school, or are out of school and just looking to pick up a new sport, you will likely have many options to select from. Two of the more notable sports are basketball and wrestling.
These may not seem comparable at first glance, but they do have more in common than most people think. If you’re a student, both seasons normally occur in the winter. Additionally, both require a lot of physical strength and endurance, even if you are at the most basic level. After doing some research, we have looked at a number of factors including price, popularity, difficulty, and long-term options to help you pick which sport you think is best for you and, ultimately, which sport is better.
Is Basketball More Expensive Than Wrestling?
Likely one of the biggest concerns one may have when looking into a sport is how much it costs. It can be the biggest barrier to entry, especially when you have to spend a significant amount of money before even knowing if you’ll like the sport. Fortunately, we’ve broken down a list of the general starter costs to consider when figuring out which sport to participate in. Keep in mind that all costs below are averages, and some options in each category can be more or less expensive.
| Costs | Basketball Price (USD) | Wrestling Price (USD) |
| Registration / Club Fee | $25 | $30 |
| Jerseys / Uniforms | $25 | $20 |
| Shoes | $110 | $90 |
| Other Equipment | $50 | $50 |
| Lessons | $75 / lesson | $50 / lesson |
| Total | $285 | $240 |
Now, not all the costs above will apply to every situation; you may not have a registration or club fee if you are playing for your school team and have a facility to practice in, and you normally wouldn’t be paying for a jersey / uniform if you are out of school and playing recreationally. Each person will have their own cost structure, but it is good to keep in mind what the entire range of expenses can be.
The registration fees were averages taken from the AAU and USA Wrestling websites for basketball and wrestling, respectively. Also, the other equipment includes things such as socks, rec specs, headgear, etc.
Is Basketball Harder Than Wrestling?
Another point of comparison is difficulty. Many athletes want to know if basketball is harder than wrestling. There are several components to measure when determining difficulty. At the end of the day, most of this determination is subjective; athletes who participate in certain sports will be biased towards those when making their decision.
However, there is some objectivity that can be applied to help settle the debate. This old (but still applicable) ESPN article took the judgments of 8 sports experts to determine which is the most difficult, weighing in physical and mental factors; those rankings are below, with basketball coming in 4th and wrestling coming in 5th overall. The factors in this assessment include:
- Endurance
- Strength
- Power
- Speed
- Agility
- Flexibility
- Nerve
- Durability
- Hand-Eye Coordination
- Analytical Aptitude
| Rank | Sport | Total Score |
| 1st | Boxing | 72.38 |
| 2nd | Ice Hockey | 71.75 |
| 3rd | Football | 68.38 |
| 4th | Basketball | 67.88 |
| 5th | Wrestling | 63.50 |
| 6th | Martial Arts | 63.38 |
| 7th | Tennis | 62.75 |
| 8th | Gymnastics | 62.50 |
| 9th | Baseball / Softball | 62.25 |
| 10th | Soccer | 61.50 |
| 11th | Skiing: Alpine | 60.63 |
| 12th | Water Polo | 60.63 |
| 13th | Rugby | 60.50 |
| 14th | Lacrosse | 60.38 |
| 15th | Rodeo: Steer Wrestling | 56.50 |
Is Basketball More Popular Than Wrestling?
If you take into consideration internet search volume, as well as prevalence of sport leagues and facilities, basketball is the more popular sport. According to Google Trends, basketball hit its peak interest in March 2022 in the US since 2004. Wrestling, however, has decreased in interest by around 27% over the past 18 years.
Now, these are all relative comparisons and should be taken with a grain of salt; basketball has increased in interest relative to 2004 but may have had lower search volume overall than wrestling. However, the point still stands that basketball is growing in popularity, whereas wrestling is decreasing.
Basketball Interest Over Time
Wrestling Interest Over Time
Another gauge of popularity for sports is the number of resources out there for you to take advantage of for taking up these sports. For wrestling, Team USA has a website that will show you what wrestling clubs are in your area based on your state and zip code. Masters Wrestling, which focuses wrestling for adults 25+ years old, also lets you see what clubs are available for older age groups.
Unfortunately, if your club isn’t either holding an internal or inter-club competition, your involvement will likely focus on sparring and informal matchups between you and other club members.
For students who are in the offseason, Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is a multi-sport organization that allows students to continue their training outside of school. The AAU has over 700,000 members and offers leagues for both basketball and wrestling.
Being one of the most popular sports organizations, it is a great indicator as to which sport is more popular. Using the AAU’s “Find A Club” feature, the closest 50 clubs to the NYC area are within a 411-mile radius, whereas the same for basketball are within a 190-mile radius.
This means that in general, there are more opportunities to play basketball than there are for wrestling. On top of that, the AAU has 4 separate leagues for basketball (boys, girls, men, women), but only 1 for wrestling.
In addition to the above, many higher-end gyms have basketball courts in them (Lifetime, Equinox, etc.). It just adds further confirmation that basketball is the more popular sport for all age ranges.
Does Basketball Or Wrestling Have Better Long-Term Options?
Basketball definitely takes the cake if you’re taking a look at the volume and proximity of facilities and clubs in a given area. As mentioned above, there seem to be a sufficient number of options for both sports if you’re looking to engage in either at any age.
However, if you take a top-down approach in analyzing the accessibility of joining a sport, you’ll notice that the biggest stage for wrestling is arguably the Olympics and not much else. For basketball, you have the NBA, the Olympics, European basketball leagues, etc.
This is a great indicator if you’re trying to figure out what may be the most available sport to pursue at any level. Whether you’re looking to play basketball recreationally or competitively, and whether you’re 15 or 50 years old, you don’t have a shortage of options. Wrestling, on the other hand, becomes a bit sparse in opportunity once you start hitting your mid to late 20s.
In Conclusion: Basketball vs. Wrestling
In short, there is no true right answer as to which sport is “better”; however, based on the analysis conducted above considering both objective and subjective factors, basketball definitely comes out on top.