Facts about US and EU Sporting Goods Markets

Facts about US and EU Sporting Goods Markets October 18, 2007

Posted by wenbi in : Sporting Goods , trackback

ttnet.net - [2006/01/24]

Sporting goods are big and ever-young business, basically influenced by people’s preferences for and participation in sporting activities. The sporting goods industry comprises sports apparel, athletic footwear and a wide variety of equipment for sports, fitness and outdoor activities.

USA
U.S. sporting goods exports for 2004 reached $2.107 billion compared with $1.996 billion for 2003, marking an increase by 7.1%. The total dollar value of the sixteen sports equipment categories was $2.002 billion compared with $1.869 billion in 2003. Among the domain equipment categories, gym/exercise (+25.1%), fishing tackle (+18.4%), and other bowling equipment (+12.5%) topped the list of growth items. Exports of roller skates and parts (-55.6%), golf club parts (-14.4%), and other golf equipment (-11.9%) had the largest declines in dollar value. Total sporting goods imports exhibited robust growth, up 11.3% in 2004 to total $4.96 billion. Among the major equipment categories, sleeping bags/tents (+26%), gym/exercise equipment (+14.9%), and inflated balls (14.5%) topped the list of growth items. Imports of roller skates (-14.2%), ice hockey (-5.3%) and “other” equipment (-6%) had the largest declines in dollar value. The major supplying nations are Mainland China (58.9%), Taiwan (8.3%), Canada (3.9%), Mexico (3.8%), and South Korea (1.9%).
On demographic survey, 86% of all Americans over the age of 12 say they are sports fans and 29% consider themselves “avid” sports fans. The youth sports playing population (ages 5-19) is likely to grow annually by just 3% by 2010, however is as a large segment as 59 million strong. Female players show a rise in participation in organized school sports. The senior market, ages 55 and older, will grow by nearly 40% between 2000 and 2010, benefiting for fitness sector and others. Especially, baby boomer population that has strong inclination for staying fit is stimulating demand in the fitness equipment market in the United States.

Europe Union
The European Union (EU) is the second largest market for sports goods in the world after the USA. It is estimated that the 379 million consumers of the 15 member states spent almost ECU 34 billion on sports goods. Around 50% of people in the EU countries participated in some form of sporting activity. Basically, sports are highly popular in France and the United Kingdom and both countries had relatively many regular sports enthusiasts. In all countries sports people tend to grow as recreational concept is concerned. Traditional forms of sport still have the largest numbers of participants in most EU countries, but popular sports such as tennis, squash and some team sports have declined in popularity because of a shift from competitive to individual sports and recreational activities. In terms of outlets, sports specialist shops take control of the retail distribution of sports goods in the EU, accounting in most selected markets for around 60%.
The largest sports goods markets are Germany, France and United Kingdom, which together accounted for around 60% of shipment in the EU. Germany is the largest sports good market in EU, reaching a value of Euro 6.5 billion. Germany is also the largest EU importer, accounting for 18% of total value of EU imports, closely followed by the United Kingdom (17%), France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Spain. Sports equipment (especially for fitness, golf, snow sports, outdoor games, skates and balls) accounted for 46% of total EU imports. There is more than 86,000 clubs. The most popular sports include inline skating, soccer, fitness, golf, cycling, tennis, snowboarding and skiing.