The UK sports goods market was worth £5.6 billion in 2007. It has undergone massive consolidation with the rise of Sports Direct International to market leadership, with a UK retail turnover of over £1 billion a year, more than doubling in size since 2003. Other retailers have struggled to cope with the effects of discount-based competition by trying to differentiate themselves. Some, like JD Sports, have been successful, while others have seen profitability decline to very low levels.

Some parts of the market are booming, while others are contracting. Running and personal fitness, for instance, are both seeing rising popularity. Although the failure of the England team to qualify for the Euro 2008 football tournament is denting replica kit sales at a national level, club sales are booming and other sports are also providing profitable turnover. The market is set to get tougher as consumer spending slows down in the next couple of years, but in the long run trends towards greater concern with healthy living could help it rebound.

Key report themes:

Some of the issues this report sets out to look at include the following:

What is happening to price deflation and the size of the market?

What strategies are the major retailers adopting and how successful are they?

How is the consumer background to the market changing?

What is happening to consumer shopping patterns?

How much do they spend?

What do they think of sports goods shopping?