The Time ranking of 1,000 companies evaluates employee satisfaction, revenue growth and sustainability transparency. Lululemon, New Balance and LVMH performed well, while Asics and VF did not make the list.

Just as humans like to compete and win, companies want to top lists – and sports companies are no exception.

One of the most prominent of these lists, Time magazine and Statista’s “World’s best companies of 2025,” is now released, and some major sports brands have placed in it. Not at the very top, but in some good positions for sure.

The ranking measures employee satisfaction, revenue growth and sustainability transparency. 

According to Time and Statista, in the category of Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods, sporting goods companies should rank as follows: 

Nike 14, LVHM 21, Lululemon 36, New Balance 172, Adidas 363, Dick’s Sporting Goods 363, Skechers 564, Anta Sports 620, Puma 648, Giorgio Armani 651 and Gildan 978.

nike employee

Source: Nike

Happy at work. Even with an almost entirely new management team, lots of new things are happening at Nike around R&D and sales – although also in job cuts. Still, it seems Nike still has got its mojo.

Nike has gone down an intense and rocky road over the past year, hiring a new CEO, Elliott Hill, in October 2024, getting an almost new management team, and makng lots of changes around R&D, sales and the workforce. But it seems still to have its mojo.

Somewhat surprising is that major sports companies like Asics and VF Corp. are not present among the 1,000 companies.

Nvidia, which this summer became the first public company to hit $4 trillion in market value, tops the statistical ranking. Nvidia rose through the ranks on a wave of growing AI demand and a well-performing gaming division, Time writes.

The complete list can be seen here.

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