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Sports and fitness companies netted more than $116 billion in wholesale U.S. sales, according to a new report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
The total 2022 revenue growth from sales of athletic footwear, apparel, sports and fitness equipment, and licensed products marked a 4.3% increase from 2021. According to the report, it was the “second-largest percentage growth since 2010” but missed the record of 15.8% in 2021.
Inflation, supply chain disruptions, and rising labor costs reportedly remain a post-pandemic concern for sports and fitness companies, as their 2022 revenue increase was still less than half of the U.S.’s current-dollar GDP growth of 9.2%.
SFIA’s report comes from a survey conducted with its 700-plus members, which span the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and NCAA as well as brands such as Nike, Adidas, Amazon, Rawlings, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Wilson, Puma, and New Balance.
About 55% of the companies surveyed said they increased profitability last year — the highest portion since 2015 — while 28% said their profits decreased in 2022.
The report also found that while the rate of Americans reporting physical activity is increasing, fitness club activity rates haven’t fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
“Last year was a difficult year to categorize,” said SFIA CEO Tom Cove, noting that although companies “continued to meet strong demand for their products,” several of them remain concerned about “uncertainties in the marketplace that lasted much longer than anyone anticipated at the beginning of 2022.”
