Mar 5, 2013
Sports is a booming business. And it is not just the sport events themselves that are large drivers of revenue, new studies are showing that consumers are continuing to spend large amounts of discretionary income on sports and fitness. A study from Global Information, in partnership with Global Industry Analysts, predict that the sports and fitness clothing market will top $180 billion dollars a year by the year 2018.
For the sake of comparison, the NFL pulled in revenue of roughly $10 billion in the 2012 season.
The continued rise and revenue stream for companies such as Nike, Under Armour, Adidas and others, is due in large part to expanded participation in team sports and fitness activities. That trend, which the study groups under the term “westernization”, combined with rising income levels, and a demand for sports and fitness clothing as casual wear and for general fashion, will see a continuing rise in this fast-growing industry.
The study also sees an upward trend in the Fitness Nutrition Food and Sport Drink sector, estimating nearly $55 billion per year, in sales by the year 2018. The study again that healthier lifestyles have taken the sports drink industry away from a niche segment and into the hands of the masses at large. Major players such as Coca Cola, PepsiCo, and Red Bull are responding to consumers’ healthier lifestyle choices by putting new energy drinks, energy bars and other meal supplements on to the market at an increasingly fast pace.
With the sports drink sector showing no signs of slowing down, it will be interesting to see the evolution of sports drink endorsement deals over the next five years as well. We’ve already seen multiple athletes move away from the larger sports drink powers to endorse lesser known brands (see: Fuse Science), in hopes of ‘getting in on the ground floor’ of a company, via an equity share. Might the next five years show more of the same? Or just an increase in the monetary value of the deals themselves?
The next five years in the sports and fitness world are guaranteed to be quite interesting. For more information on the Global Information study, you can visit the Global Information website.
(via Press Release)
One comment
I think a lot of the growth for the Athletic Apparel, and Food and Sport Drink sectors have to do with increased marketing towards Women. Women, generally, are the ones who spend money buying clothes and food/drinks. In the last decade or so there seems to be an increased interest in getting women more involved in Sports, companies catering their athletic apparel, and food and beverage offerings to women. Good examples of that would be Nike Women, NFL 4 Her, and various low calorie sports drinks, like Propel. Women have asserted more influence on the male dominated Sports industry (http://www.sportsnetworker.com/2012/12/13/top-10-inspirational-women-in-sports/), so it’s no wonder companies are seeking to benefit on this influence.
-Deloreen