Preview table of contents and sample page
About this Report
Sports Products allow athletes and consumers to engage in sports and outdoor recreation activities with enhanced enjoyment, performance, and safety. In 2023 sports product revenues were just over $1 trillion and growing at over 5% per year. These revenues are derived from Sportswear, Sports Equipment and Sports Health.
This sports industry report is divided in three parts each focused on one of these sectors of sports products as summarized below.
Part I: Sportswear: It has been a major factor in athlete performance and consumer lifestyle. Today, sportswear is used by athletes, athleisure enthusiasts, people in the workplace, and everyday consumers seeking the comfort and fashion sportswear offers. Sportswear revenues in 2023 were $450.8 billion worldwide and growing at 5.8% per year. These sportswear revenues were derived from the three-sportswear segments – sports footwear, apparel, and wearable devices.
Part II: Sports Equipment: Sports equipment is essential to all sports, fitness, and outdoor recreation activities. They enhance performance, fitness, health, safety and enjoyment. Worldwide sports equipment core area revenues were $497.8 billion in 2023 and growing at 5.4% per year. These sportswear revenues were derived from the three-sports equipment segments – sports & fitness, outdoor recreation, and recreation vehicles.
Part III: Sports Health: Sports and recreational activities lead to a variety of injuries and accidents. Professional, college, and high school athletes, sports enthusiasts, and everyday participants all experience health and wellness issues. Sports health includes four segments – Sports Medicine, Sports Wellness Products, Sports Therapy and Sports Nutrition. In 2023 these segments produced $130.8 billion in revenues worldwide. Sports Health revenues account for only 12% of sports product revenues but are growing at a much faster rate.
This sports industry report will provide you a comprehensive view of sports products and how they contribute to the worldwide sports business revenues.
Sports Industry Report
Contents
CONTENTS
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Sports Products
Sports Products Are a Big Part of Sports Business
Sports Products allow athletes and consumers to engage in sports and outdoor recreation activities with enhanced enjoyment, performance, and safety.
Consider the product-intensive sport of pole vaulting. Pole vaulting requires tremendous strength, speed, and agility. But to successfully vault over a crossbar, athletes depend on various specialized sports products:
- Sportswear: Shoes and apparel impact speed, which accounts for 67% of the height pole-vaulters achieve.
- Sports Equipment: The pole, running surface, pole box, and landing pads enhance performance and safety.
- Sports Health: Sports medicine, therapy, and nutrition impact pole-vaulter performance and alleviate injury.
Since 1850, pole vaulters have set 105 world records (Figure I). Innovations in footwear, apparel, poles, running surfaces, pole boxes, landing pads, sports medicine, therapy, nutrition, and science-based training have influenced each world record.
The first pole-vault world record was recorded in 1850, with a height of 10 feet 4 inches. Armand Duplantis set the latest record in 2020 at 20 feet 3 inches. Pole-vaulters today are better trained than they were 170 years ago, but Sports Products have played an indisputable role in steadily improving the sport’s world record (1).
Figure II shows pole-vault material’s evolution from wood to bamboo around 1900, then to metal from 1945 to 1960, and finally to fiberglass. While analysts often focus on pole material, speed during the run-up is the primary driver of pole-vault height. The run generates kinetic energy, which is transferred to the pole and the athlete. Pole-vaulters have achieved faster speeds with lighter poles, improved running surfaces, engineered running shoes, and advanced apparel.
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Sports Footwear, Apparel & Wearable Devices
Sportswear has been a major factor in athlete performance and consumer lifestyle. Today, sportswear is used by athletes, athleisure enthusiasts, people in the workplace, and everyday consumers seeking the comfort and fashion sportswear offers. Before we get started on this core area of sports products, it is useful to review of how sportswear evolved in the video below.
FIGURE 1.1
The Evolution of Sportswear
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Sports Equipment
Sports, Fitness & Outdoor Recreation
Equipment is essential to all sports. Athletes doubled the world pole-vault record from 1850 to 2023 due to continuous equipment improvement, as poles moved from wood to fiberglass and running surfaces from ground to rubberized plastic. Equipment is equally important in all sports, fitness, and outdoor recreation activities.
Fitness machines continue to evolve, and wearables allow consumers to monitor their health and exercise closely. Likewise, equipment for camping, snow sports, hunting and fishing, water sports, and equestrian activities enhances performance, safety, and activity enjoyment. The Best-Howard Sports Industry Model also includes recreational vehicles, such as campers, motor homes, ATVs, jet skis, golf carts, and snowmobiles, in its Sports Equipment core area accounting. Many other industry models neglect the segment (Figure 2.1). The Sports Equipment core area encompasses the Best-Howard Model’s Sports Products domain. Sports equipment produced $497.8 billion in revenue in 2023 and was 46.1% of all sports products revenues, as shown in Figure 2.2.
FIGURE 2.1
Sports Equipment Segments
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Sports Health
Sports Health
Sports and recreational activities lead to a variety of injuries and accidents. Professional, college, and high school athletes, sports enthusiasts, and everyday participants all experience health and wellness issues. Sports injuries range from strains to conditions requiring surgery. Sports therapy aids injury recovery and prevention, and sports counseling addresses mental issues, as presented in Figure 3.1.
The Sports Health & Wellness core area of the Best-Howard Model’s Sports Products domain includes the sports medicine, wellness products, therapy, and nutrition segments. The largest segment is nutrition, which includes sports drinks, energy bars, and protein bars. Like Sportswear, the Health & Wellness core area attracts non-sports consumers.
The Sports Health & Wellness segments include:
• Sports Medicine: Medical treatment for sports injuries, including repairs, surgeries,
recovery products, prescriptions, braces, walking boots, and slings.
• Wellness Products: Products created for injury prevention, recovery, and performance, and specialized products for para-athletes.
FIGURE 3.1
Health & Wellness Segments
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