Thomas B. Doyle, who significantly impacted numerous areas with the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) over his 39-year active outdoor industry career, passed away on April 22. He was 86. 

Doyle was NSGA’s vice president of Information and Research when he retired in the fall of 2010. He was responsible for growing the association’s research products and team dealer division. Doyle was also president of the National Ski & Snowboard Retailers Association (NSSRA), an independent association managed by the NSGA, from its founding in 1987 until 2010. 

“Tom Doyle’s passion for the sporting goods industry and his significant contributions to the work we do cannot be overstated,” said Matt Carlson, NSGA president and CEO. “He did so much to build and grow vital areas of NSGA in research, advocacy and ski and snowboard membership. He was instrumental in creating the National Ski & Snowboard Retailers Association and its relationship with NSGA. 

“I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Tom and to get to know him before he retired after I came to the NSGA. On behalf of everyone at NSGA we extend our deepest condolences to all of Tom’s family and friends.” 

Doyle started in the industry working for NSGA’s member magazine, Selling Sporting Goods. Before Doyle’s arrival, NSGA published only limited market research, but in 1980, it published its first Sporting Goods Market consumer purchases report. Doyle launched the publication of NSGA’s Sports Participation reports in 1985, and he built the foundation for a research department that today provides a wide range of products used by all areas of the active outdoor industry.

Doyle also made presentations on the American sporting goods market in Europe and Asia and assisted in developing Federal studies of the American sporting goods market. He was also responsible for the NSGA Cost of Doing Business Survey for nearly 20 years. 

NSGA created its Team Dealer Division in 1975, and Doyle was its first managing director until 2006.

Doyle’s involvement in the ski and snow sports industry extended beyond the NSSRA, and he served as membership secretary on an ASTM snow skiing committee that worked on safety-related issues. He also served as a member of the Strategy Committee for the President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors. 

Doyle spent a year as the public relations director of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), representing boat, marine engine, and accessory manufacturers. While Doyle was at the NMMA, he formed the National Marine Bankers Association. 

Doyle received Master’s degrees in Management from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and in Philosophy from St. Mary’s in Mundelein, IL. He was a priest with the Archdiocese of Chicago before entering the sporting goods industry. 

Doyle was born on December 25, 1938, in Chicago, IL. He is preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Ellen; his brother, Michael; and his sister, Rosemary. He is survived by his daughter, Patricia Kelly and his brother, John.

A resident of Oak Brook, IL, Doyle was a long-time member of the Village of Oak Brook Planning Commission, Friends of the Oak Brook Public Library, the Graue Mill Board, and the LaGrange Soup Kitchen. 

 Visitation will be Thursday, May 1, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Sullivan Funeral Home, 60 S. Grant Street, Hinsdale, IL 60521. A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 2, at St. Isaac Jogues Church, Fourth and Clay Street in Hinsdale, IL, with Internment to follow at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, IL.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are appreciated to the Doyle Family Endowed Research Fund at the Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University Chicago or the Patricia K. Doyle Hesburgh Women of Impact Scholarship at the University of Notre Dame. 

Image courtesy NSGA