BSI, Germany’s sporting goods body, joins e-commerce group bevh

Germany’s two leading trade associations for sporting goods manufacturing and digital retail have joined forces — an acknowledgment that brands can no longer afford to have their factory-floor and storefront interests represented by bodies that don’t talk to each other.

The Bundesverband der Deutschen Sportartikel-Industrie e.V. (BSI), the German sporting goods manufacturers’ association, and the Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel Deutschland e.V. (bevh), the national e-commerce and mail-order trade body, announced the partnership on March 11, 2026. The agreement covers political lobbying, joint communications, and — if feasibility assessments go well — shared market data and industry research.

Why it matters beyond Germany

BSI carries significant weight internationally. Its roughly 170 member companies — among them market leaders across multiple categories — generate combined annual revenues of approximately €35 billion, according to BSI data. The association is also a member of FESI (the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry), headquartered in Brussels, which means shifts in BSI’s strategic orientation can feed into EU-level advocacy. A more digitally aligned BSI could eventually reinforce European-level policy coordination on e-commerce regulation — a topic gaining urgency as brands across the continent accelerate direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies.

What the partnership covers

The two associations will align on political advocacy and coordinate their presence at trade fairs and industry events. On the communications side, they plan to move away from parallel messaging toward a coordinated approach on issues that cross their respective mandates. The associations have stated they are currently evaluating the feasibility of joint market research, which — if it materializes — would give the alliance its most tangible industry deliverable.

The logic: production expertise meets digital market knowledge

The two bodies occupy opposite ends of the commercial chain, and that is largely the point. BSI’s institutional knowledge sits upstream — production processes, procurement, manufacturer economics. bevh’s territory is the digital end-consumer channel, now the primary growth arena for any sporting goods brand with DTC ambitions.

Stefan Rosenkranz, Managing Director of BSI, argued the tie-up opens new ground for member companies navigating an increasingly digital competitive environment. Christoph Wenk-Fischer, CEO of bevh, made the case that combining digital commerce expertise with manufacturing intelligence creates a stronger policy platform — one capable of engaging with e-commerce questions at both ends of the supply chain rather than one at a time.