The total market for sports equipment, exercise equipment, athletic footwear, sports apparel, and licensed merchandise saw a 15.8 percent increase in revenue from 2020 and a 16.4 percent increase since 2019 pre-pandemic numbers, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) annual Manufacturers’ Sales by Category Report. The majority of the tracked categories experienced growth of over 10 percent in those two years.
As a result of these numbers, the sporting goods industry is now valued at over $111 billion.
The report tracks U.S. wholesale revenues of sports and fitness goods in over 30 categories and compares revenues from previous years.
“These numbers are extraordinary. The largest jump SFIA has seen in the history of tracking this data,” said Tom Cove, president and CEO, SFIA. “Even with the numerous supply chain issues and myriad challenges manufacturers have experienced because of the pandemic, these sales figures clearly show the sports and fitness industry is thriving.”
Total sports equipment sales have been up 16.8 percent since 2019. The top five sporting equipment categories with the largest growth over two years are golf (57.1 percent), camping (33.6 percent), snow sports (27.2 percent), tennis (27 percent), and basketball (26.6 percent).
Total exercise equipment sales, including consumer and institutional, have increased 42.2 percent from pre-pandemic levels, with four consumer equipment categories—home gyms, exercise cycles, free weights, and exercise benches—experiencing over 100 percent growth since 2019. Fitness product sales showed the most volatility amongst different products within the category, with consumer fitness products showing dramatic growth in the initial stages of the pandemic period.
“When Americans were restricted from schools, facilities, and group gatherings, they still wanted to be physically active, and they purchased our products for this purpose,” said Cove. “As pandemic restrictions lessened, Americans continued to buy active lifestyle products showing how central the sports and fitness industry is to Americans’ well-being. With team sports participation approaching pre-pandemic levels, we are optimistic the positive market indicators will sustain.”
Photo courtesy Getty/Dick’s Sporting Goods
