SBA loans for sports and recreation instruction

11,455 SBA 7(a) loans since 2010. What they were for, how big, how long, and how often they went wrong.

Loans made

11,455

2010 onward

Typical loan

$129k

median approved

Typical term

10 yr

Default rate

6.0%

all industries 5.7%

How this industry compares

defaulted within 7 years

Sports and Recreation Instruction

6.0%

Typical industry

5.3%

All industries

5.7%

Default rate is not a judgement on the industry. It tells you how a lender will price your risk, and how much cushion you should build in.

When borrowers got into trouble

share of failures by year

Year 1

Year 2

10%

Year 3

20%

Year 4

18%

Year 5

16%

Year 6+

36%

Trouble rarely arrives in year one. It arrives when the opening cash is gone — which is an argument for borrowing more working capital, not less.

What this means for your application

A typical loan here runs $129k over 10 years. If you are asking for far more than that, expect harder questions and a longer file. If far less, check which lenders will even take it — many won't go below $150,000.

Find lenders by smallest loan → Check the numbers work →

Source SBA 7(a) FOIA, NAICS 611 Released 2026-06-30 Loans 11,455

SBA 504 lending in Sports and Recreation Instruction

504 FOIA record

Where a 7(a) loan covers working capital and general use, the 504 program funds the owner-occupied property and heavy equipment side — a bank first mortgage plus a fixed-rate second through a Certified Development Company. Here is the 504 record for sports and recreation instruction.

504 loans since 2010

1,832

$1.6B in SBA seconds

Median project

$1.3M

bank first + 504 second

Default rate

3.6%

all 504 5.0%