Thanks to some strong performance overseas by bicycle makers, the global sports equipment market had a 1.2 percent gain at the wholesale stage in 2008, reaching a value of nearly $60 billion. However, in the U.S., where weak categories like golf and fitness play a greater role in the marketplace, sports equipment sales fell by 1.0 percent to $25.3 billion.
The top 24 sports equipment companies increased their share of the global market to 38.3 percent from 37.0 percent. The share of the five companies dominated by cycling moved up to 9.38 percent of the global market from 8.05 percent the prior year. The golf specialists slipped to 3.87 percent of the market from 3.94 percent, while the fitness makers fell to 2.02 percent from 2.35 percent. The cast and blast specialists increased their share to 2.58 percent from 2.40 percent.
Jarden, which combines Coleman, Pure Fishing and K2 Corporation’s former stable of brands, remains the world’s largest equipment company with sales of nearly $2.5 billion, but Shimano was a strong No. 2. The Japanese cycling and fishing tackle company saw had a 11 percent sales increase to $2.3 billion for the year, getting some help from currencies. Amer Sports, a former Number Uno that is heavily exposed in winter sports and fitness equipment, had only a slight sales decline in dollars, thanks to currencies, and stayed just under the $2 billion mark. Between the athletic footwear giants, Adidas Group still edges Nike in the $1.5 billion neighborhood. Four other companies surpassed the $1 billion milestone.
Global interest in cycling seems to be driven by two key trends. In emerging nations, the rapid urbanization is creating a demand for transportation. In more developed markets, the cycling industry is doing an excellent job of attracting public support to create more cycling opportunities for commuters . These trends are apparently offsetting the effect of the economic climate. Equipment makers that are selling a more traditional fun experience, such as golf or winter sports, have instead felt the impact of the recession.
Six of the companies on our chart of the sports equipment majors are European – Amer Sports, Adidas, Accell Group, Luxottica, Head and Rossignol. Four are Japanese and 13 are based in North America. Five companies have a significant presence in cycling (Shimano, Giant, Accell, Trek and Dorel), two are golf specialists (Callaway and Acushnet) and two are fitness specialists (Icon and Nautilus). Three dominate in hunting/fishing (Remington, Daiwa and Smith & Wesson). Most of the others participate in several categories.
This annual survey of the global sports equipment market conducted is by Sporting Goods Intelligence through public filings, input from management and industry estimates. The figures are for the fiscal period ended nearest to Dec. 31. Figures are based on the companies’ revenues and are converted from local currencies to U.S. dollars based on the average OECD conversion rates for 2008 and 2007.
