Contents
- Sports equipment sales statistics: U.S. wholesale market size and growth
- Sports equipment sales statistics: team sports and pickleball
- Academy sports and recreation merchandise sales
- Sports brand revenue and wholesale channels
- Sporting goods retailer category sales
- Sources
Sports equipment sales statistics: U.S. wholesale market size and growth
The clearest overall benchmark is a wholesale measure, not a count of equipment purchases by consumers. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) reported that U.S. sporting goods industry wholesale sales totaled $130 billion in 2025, up 3.7% from 2024. The figure covers sporting goods equipment, athletic footwear, sports apparel and licensed merchandise. It therefore describes a broad industry, rather than equipment alone or retail spending at checkout.
SFIA also reported that wholesale sales grew 34.7% between 2020 and 2025. That is a cumulative change over five years, not an annual growth rate. For a narrower product reference, athletic footwear wholesale sales reached $24.1 billion in 2025. Footwear is one component of the larger industry total, so it should not be added to that total as if it were outside the reported scope. SFIA’s 2025 industry release
| U.S. wholesale measure | Reported result | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Sporting goods industry | $130 billion | 2025; equipment, footwear, apparel and licensed merchandise |
| Industry growth | 3.7% | 2025 compared with 2024 |
| Cumulative industry growth | 34.7% | 2020 through 2025 |
| Athletic footwear | $24.1 billion | 2025; wholesale sales |
These figures provide a market-wide frame, but they do not reveal how much of the total came from equipment, how much was sold through particular channels, or how many units were purchased. The category and company figures below answer different questions and use different reporting periods.
Sports equipment sales statistics: team sports and pickleball
The SFIA release highlights growth in both a newer racquet sport category and established team-sport merchandise. U.S. pickleball wholesale sales rose 22% year over year in 2025, making it the fastest-growing category identified in the release. The published figure is a growth rate; the release excerpt does not provide a corresponding dollar total, so it cannot establish pickleball’s absolute market size or its contribution to the $130 billion industry total.
Baseball and softball wholesale sales grew 7.9% in 2025. Team uniforms increased 5.4% year over year and were 75.9% higher than in 2020. These rates show that the reported categories did not all move at the same pace. Uniform growth over the five-year comparison was substantially larger than the single-year change, but the two measures cover different spans and should not be compared as equivalent annual rates.
The figures are industry wholesale sales, not participation rates, consumer survey responses or retailer-specific results. They show changes in the value of category sales as reported by SFIA, but do not by themselves identify why sales changed or how much was attributable to price, volume or product mix. SFIA’s 2025 industry release
Academy sports and recreation merchandise sales
Academy Sports + Outdoors reports a broad sports and recreation merchandise division. In fiscal 2025, which ended January 31, 2026, its U.S. sales in that division were $1.340 billion. The company reported $1.293 billion for fiscal 2024, ended February 1, 2025, and $1.377 billion for fiscal 2023, ended February 3, 2024. The filing states that the merchandise division figures are approximate and in thousands; the table below converts them to billions for readability.
| Academy U.S. merchandise measure | Fiscal 2023 | Fiscal 2024 | Fiscal 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports and recreation division | $1.377B | $1.293B | $1.340B |
| Total net sales | — | — | $6.053B |
Academy said sports and recreation division sales increased 3.6% in fiscal 2025 compared with fiscal 2024. The division includes fitness, team sports, recreation and front-end products, so it is broader than sports equipment alone. Total company net sales were $6.053 billion in fiscal 2025; that company-wide number gives context for the division but is not a sports-equipment figure. The fiscal-year labels matter: Academy fiscal 2025 ended in calendar 2026. Academy Sports + Outdoors’ 2025 Form 10-K
Sports brand revenue and wholesale channels
Amer Sports reported $1,306.7 million in 2025 revenue for its global Ball & Racquet Sports segment, compared with $1,153.5 million in 2024 and $1,112.1 million in 2023. The segment figures are in millions and use calendar years ended December 31. The sequence indicates rising reported segment revenue across those three periods, but it is not a pure equipment-sales series: the segment includes products beyond equipment, and revenue is not the same measure as U.S. wholesale sales.
The different basis is useful to keep in view. SFIA’s $130 billion figure covers wholesale sales across a U.S. industry and several product types. Amer Sports’ segment revenue is a global company reporting measure for a defined business segment. Comparing their dollar totals directly would mix geography, channel and product scope. Amer Sports’ 2025 Form 20-F segment reporting
Sporting goods retailer category sales
Retailer filings offer another view, but their categories are also broader than sports equipment alone. DICK’S Sporting Goods reported $4,899.3 million in fiscal 2024 hardlines net sales. The comparable figures were $4,915.5 million in fiscal 2023 and $4,952.2 million in fiscal 2022. Its fiscal 2024 ended February 1, 2025; fiscal 2023 ended February 3, 2024; and fiscal 2022 ended January 28, 2023. DICK’S defines hardlines to include sporting goods equipment as well as fitness equipment, golf equipment and fishing gear. The reported category edged down across these periods, but it cannot isolate the performance of sporting goods equipment within the mix. DICK’S Sporting Goods’ 2024 annual report
American Outdoor Brands reports categories with different boundaries and a different fiscal year, ending April 30. Its shooting sports category generated $95.2 million in fiscal 2025 net sales, up 3.8% from $91.716 million in fiscal 2024. The company says this category includes shooting accessories and products used for personal protection, so it is not an equipment-only measure.
Its outdoor lifestyle category reached $127.122 million in fiscal 2025, a 16.2% increase from $109.383 million in fiscal 2024. That category includes hunting, fishing, camping, meat processing, rugged outdoor activities and outdoor cooking. It offers context on a broad outdoor-products business, not a direct measure of sports-equipment sales. These company-specific results should not be combined with one another or with SFIA’s industry total as if they were parts of a common accounting series. American Outdoor Brands’ 2025 Form 10-K
Taken together, the available figures support a few distinct readings: U.S. sporting goods wholesale sales grew in 2025; some reported sport categories grew faster than the overall industry; and company filings show how selected, broader merchandise or segment categories performed over their own fiscal or calendar periods. They do not yield a single equipment-only retail market total, and the category definitions, geographies and reporting periods should remain attached to each number.