Extreme sport (also called action sport , adventure sport, and adventurous sport) is a general term for sports featuring speed, height, danger, a high level of physical exertion, highly specialized gear, or spectacular stunts. A feature of such activities in the view of some is their alleged capacity to induce a so-called adrenaline rush in participants (a misnomer, since often the rush or high obtained is a product of increased levels of dopamine endorphins and serotonin). Another characteristic of activities so labeled is they tend to be individual rather than team sports. Extreme sports can include both competitive and non-competitive activities.

Marketing and changing definitions of the term

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Extreme sports are often associated with young adults wishing to push themselves to the limits of their physical ability and fear, in turn pushing the boundaries of a particular sport. This youthful demographic accounts too for extreme sports' frequent association with youth culture, including its clothing, fashions, and music.

Some contend that the distinction between an extreme sport and a conventional one is as much to do with marketing as it is to do with perceptions about levels of danger involved or the amount of adrenaline generated. Snowboarding thus has a more extreme image than skiing due to differing marketing strategies and the fact of being a newer sport, even though skiing is a faster and at least equally dangerous activity. Furthermore a sport like Rugby Union, though dangerous and adrenaline-inducing, would not fall into the category of extreme sports due to its traditional image. Scuba diving is not often categorized as an extreme sport these days, despite the level of danger and physical exertion, because of its primarily adult demographic. Another example: compare the perception of demolition derby, not usually thought of as an extreme sport, to that of BMX racing, which is. Demolition derby has an adult demographic, BMX is a youth sport.

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