In the soon to be released report, The Sporting Goods Market in 2004, the NSGA is expecting 2% growth in the industry for 2004. Sporting goods sales, which have been relatively flat for the past three years, are projected to reach $46.6 billion, compared to $45.8 for 2003. The data is based on polls taken by National Family Opinion Inc., which maintains a consumer panel balanced to parallel actual American household distribution as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Census, so that the data can be projected nationally.
The NSGA is predicting a slight turnaround in the athletic apparel market, which has been declining steadily since 2001 when it reached $11.0 billion in sales. Last year, U.S. consumers purchased $9.6 billion in athletic apparel, a number that should increase to $9.7 billion.
Athletic footwear is projected to show the most growth, showing a 2.1% increase from $14.4 billion in 2003 to $14.7 billion in 2004. Athletic footwear is also the only category to show relatively consistent growth since 2000, when $12.6 billion was spent. Sporting goods equipment, like the overall market, has been relatively flat since 2001, and should show growth of 1.8% from $21.8 billion to $22.2 billion.
