The sports and fitness products industry grew by 15.8% in 2021
SILVER SPRING, MD (April 8, 2022) – The sporting goods industry experienced record-breaking sales in 2021, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) annual Manufacturers’ Sales by Category Report. The report, released today, tracks U.S. wholesale revenues of sports and fitness goods in over 30 categories, and provides comparisons to revenues from previous years.
The total market for sports equipment, exercise equipment, athletic footwear, sports apparel, and licensed merchandise saw a 15.8% increase in revenue from 2020 and a 16.4% increase since 2019 pre-pandemic numbers, with a majority of the tracked categories experiencing growth of over 10% in those two years. As a result of these record-breaking numbers, the sporting goods industry is now valued at over $111 billion dollars.
“These numbers are extraordinary – the largest jump SFIA has seen in the history of us tracking this data,” said Tom Cove, President & CEO, SFIA. “Even with the numerous supply chain issues and a myriad of challenges manufacturers have experienced because of the pandemic, these sales figures clearly show the sports and fitness industry is thriving.”
Total sports equipment sales are up 16.8% since 2019. The top five sporting equipment categories with the largest growth over two years are golf (57.1%), camping (33.6%), snow sports (27.2%), tennis (27%), and basketball (26.6%).
Total exercise equipment sales, including both consumer and institutional, have increased 42.2% from pre-pandemic levels, with four consumer equipment categories – home gyms, exercise cycles, free weights, and exercise benches – experiencing over 100% 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,” says 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.”
The 2022 Manufacturers’ Sales Report is free to SFIA Members and is available to the public for purchase by clicking here for $245.
Many manufacturing sales increases parallel participation trends reported in SFIA’s 2022 Topline Participation Report, which you can learn more about by clicking here.
The report is provided free of charge to members of the media. If you are interested in a copy, please contact Lisa Futterman at [email protected].
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ABOUT SFIA: The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), the #1 source for sport and fitness research, is the leading global trade association of manufacturers, retailers, and marketers in the sports products and fitness industry. SFIA seeks to promote sports and fitness participation, as well as industry vitality through research, thought leadership, public affairs, industry affairs, and member services. For more information, please visit sfia.org.