Consumer-reported retail sales of sporting goods apparel, equipment and athletic footwear increased 3 percent in 2013, according to the 2014 edition of the NSGA Sporting Goods Market report, which was released by the National Sporting Goods Association.

About the increase, NSGA’s Director of Research & Information Dustin Dobrin said, “The sporting goods industry continues to grow since 2010, not just fueled by one or two categories but rather a variety of segments within footwear, equipment, and apparel.  Consumers are clearly excited about the new, innovative products being offered.”

The new report shows that sales increased in all three segments of the sporting goods industry with footwear leading the way at 4 percent.  Equipment and apparel increased 3 percent and 1 percent, respectively.  From an outlet perspective, full-line sporting goods stores were the leading channel of purchase for sporting goods equipment and footwear.  Within the equipment segment specialty sport shops and discount stores had the second and third largest shares while in the footwear segment discount stores ranked No. 2 and on-line sites were No. 3. 

In addition to reporting sales trends for more than 130 product categories, NSGA’s Sporting Goods Market report also includes insights into the channels of purchase and the demographics of the key users for a majority of these product categories.  Combined with its Sports Participation offerings including participation trends, cross participation, and lifecycle demographics, NSGA’s portfolio of research provides a comprehensive view of the state of the sporting goods industry.

For more information on each report and to purchase your copies today, visit www.nsga.org/research.