Background
Sportswear is also referred to as active wear. It pertains to clothing, including footwear, that is worn for sports or physical exercise for practical, comfort, and safety reasons. Some of the usual sport-specific garments include shorts, t-shirts, tracksuits, and polo shirts. There are also specialized garments, such as swimsuits, wet suits, ski suits, and leotards for gymnastics. Some of the sports footwear include ice skates, riding boots, and football boots. At times, sportswear is also worn as casual fashion clothing.
person holding an Asics shoe
Puma shoes on the floor
person holding a New Balance shoe
person wearing white FILA shoes
With the number of sports and athletes in the world today, sportswear brands have been booming for quite some time now. In addition to professional athletes, more and more people in the world are joining in on the trend for more exercise and sports in their everyday lives. Sportswear companies still have a lot of room to develop because many individuals still do not obtain the recommended amount of exercise. The proper equipment and attire are required for exercise in order to support you during your regular sporting activity and make you as comfortable as possible.
With this, it is not very surprising to learn that the global sportswear market has grown continuously over the last few decades and is now making over $100 billion in revenues when put together. In fact, there are two sportswear brands that have been dominating the global market for almost three decades now. In addition to them, there are also many other sportswear brands that have emerged fairly recently and are part of the top ten. [1]
Among the many different sportswear brands in the market today, which do you think are the most successful and popular? If you are also curious about this, you’re in the right place. In this post, we are giving you the ranking of the ten largest sportswear brands in the world.
The 10 Largest Sportswear Brands in the World
The infographic below shows the ranking of the largest sportswear brands in the world.
Nike continues to be the largest sportswear brand in the world as of 2021, with a revenue of $45 billion. It is followed by Adidas, with global sales amounting to $23.5 billion. These two sportswear brands have been dominating the global market for three decades, and they are likely to continue in the coming years. The two giants are followed by sportswear brands Puma, Under Armour, and New Balance. Also included in the top ten are Lululemon Athletica, Asics, Columbia Sportswear, Fila, and Rebook. Continue reading below to learn more about these sportswear brands.
1. Nike
Nike is a sportswear and equipment supplier that was founded in January 1964. It is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, in the United States. It is the world’s leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel. In addition to that, it is also a major manufacturer of sports equipment. Nike employed more than 73 thousand people worldwide in 2021. It is the largest sportswear brand in the world, with a global revenue that amounted to $44.5 billion in 2021, which is an increase of more than $7 billion compared to the previous financial year. [2]
Lebron James, Rafael Nadal, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Rory Mcllroy are just a few of the well-known professional players that Nike sponsors to utilize their products and publicize its technology and design. Additionally, Nike produces and furnishes jerseys for a variety of sports teams, including Barcelona, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as numerous American institutions. [2]
2. Adidas
Adidas, or Adidas AG, is a German manufacturer of athletic shoes and apparel, as well as sporting goods. Next to Nike, it is the second-largest sportswear producer in the world and the biggest in Europe. Its products are traditionally marked with a three-stripe trademark, which remains an element in the newer “trefoil” and “mountain” logos of the company. Adidas was founded in 1949, and it is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, in Germany. [3]
The global sales of Adidas as of 2021 were around $23.5 billion. The company makes sports apparel in addition to other goods, including backpacks, shirts, watches, sunglasses, and so forth. Along with selling sporting items, the Adidas Group regularly sponsors a number of sports teams that compete in a wide range of sports. But soccer continues to be the marketing focus of their sponsorship. [4]
3. Puma
Puma is a German sportswear company that was founded in 1948. Like Adidas, it is also headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, in Germany. In 2021, its global sales amounted to $6.2 billion, making it the third largest sportswear brand in the world.
Footwear, clothing, and accessories make up the three product categories into which Puma divides its sales. In 2020, footwear had a 45 percent portion of the market for sales, and clothes had a 37.7 percent share. Despite the fact that Puma footwear sales surpassed two billion euros ($2.04 billion) for the first time in 2018 and increased in 2019, Previous years saw a significant rise in Puma’s garment sales, which have increased by almost 700 million euros ($715 million) since 2016. [5]
4. Under Armour
Under Armour is an American sportswear brand that is based in Baltimore, Maryland. The business has grown significantly during the previous ten years, and its worldwide sales in 2021 amounted to $4.5 billion, making it the fourth largest sportswear brand in the world. As late as 2009, Under Armour’s annual revenue was less than one billion dollars. The majority of Under Armour’s sales are made up of clothes, with the remainder coming from accessories, footwear, and athletic goods.
Even though Under Armour is among the largest sportswear brands in the world, it is still far behind Nike and Adidas. On the other hand, Puma is its much closer competitor and is probably a better benchmark of where Under Armour currently stands within this industry. [6]
5. New Balance
As a one-man business making arch supports in 1906, New Balance has grown into a multinational corporation that sells clothing and footwear in more than 120 nations. Although it is a running-specific brand, its merchandise covers many different sports and lifestyle categories. In the US and the UK, it continues to have a sizable manufacturing presence. [7] In 2021, New Balance’s worldwide sales reached $4.1 billion, which made it the fifth largest sportswear brand in the world.
6. Lululemon Athletica
The first Lululemon store was established in Vancouver, Canada, and since then, the company has grown to be known and coveted all over the world. The business first specialized in women’s yoga clothing but now makes clothing for cycling, jogging, and other sports. The United States has by far the most lululemon stores of any nation, with over 300 locations. In total, the corporation had about 575 retail outlets worldwide. [8]
Around $3.3 billion in global sales were produced by Lululemon Athletica during the financial year of 2021, which ended in January 2022. Although they also sell men’s clothing and a large selection of fitness accessories, they are most recognized for their high-quality women’s sportswear.
7. Asics
Another shoe manufacturer in the top ten sportswear companies is Asics. The Kobe, Japan-based business was established in 1949 and is best known for its running shoes. Asics offers gear for gymnastics and fitness in addition to shoes. [1] It also offers footwear and sports equipment for different sports, such as tennis, volleyball, athletics, and wrestling, but its main focus is sports shoes. [9] In 2021, Asics generated worldwide sales of $3.2 billion.
8. Columbia Sportswear
Columbia Sportswear is among the largest sportswear brands in the world, and it does not primarily sell shoes. It is an American corporation that specializes in outerwear. This includes specialized footwear like hiking boots, as well as every piece of apparel under the general category of outdoor sportswear. It was founded in 1938 and is based in Beaverton, Oregon, in the United States. [1] Columbia Sportswear is the eighth-largest sportswear brand in the world, with $2.5 billion in worldwide sales in 2021.
9. FILA
The Italian town of Biella is where FILA was established in 1911. Although the company began as a textile maker for the local market, it is now primarily renowned for footwear and sportswear. After a few years, the company began to concentrate on the foreign market, and FILA began to manufacture sportswear in 1973. The outfit reached its height in the 1980s and 1990s because tennis players made it particularly fashionable. Tennis player Björn Borg started winning matches while sporting clothing with the recognizable “F” insignia, which gave the sportswear company a boost. [10]
In addition to tennis, FILA also made clothing and shoes for other sports like basketball. It is the ninth largest sportswear brand in the world today, with $2.6 billion in worldwide sales in 2021. At the present time, FILA is headquartered in Seoul, in South Korea.
10. Rebook
Reebok is the only sportswear company that can show a history of sky-high highs and crushing lows. In 1958, Reebok was established as a division of J.W. Foster and Sons, a pioneer in the development of running shoes with track spikes. The comeback of the “dad sneaker,” which propelled it to an all-time high during the 1980s, has helped the sportswear brand, which is hardly regarded as a sneaker behemoth, advance recently. [11]
Reebok is a sports company with American roots that has set out to dominate the global fitness market. Reebok offers customers cutting-edge goods, experiences, and inspirations because it recognizes and embraces the many sides and lifestyle potential of fitness. Reebok empowers customers to be fit for life because of its deep roots and long experience in the fitness industry. [12]
Although Reebok has expanded its product line to include athletic wear, the Boston-based firm continues to focus primarily on the shoe market. Adidas has owned Reebok since 2005.[1] It is the tenth-largest sportswear brand in the world today, earning around $1.8 billion in worldwide sales in 2021.
Conclusion
These are currently the ten largest sportswear brands in the world. The two largest brands, Nike and Adidas, are indeed very successful. In fact, when people hear or talk about sportswear or even just shoes for sports, these two brands are almost automatically mentioned by most people. But in addition to them, the other brands included in the top ten rankings are also promising, not just in the sports shoes they offer, but as well as in the clothing.
The products that these brands are producing are not just for athletes and sports enthusiasts, as these products can also inspire a lot of people to start exercising or engaging in sports activities to live a healthier and more active lifestyle. With this, we can say that in the coming years, more and more people are going to be interested in sports and other activities that will require them to purchase products from these brands. Therefore, the sportswear brands that we’ve mentioned here are all likely to thrive more moving forward. We hope that this post helped you learn more about the ten largest sportswear brands in the world.
References
- https://www.alltopeverything.com/top-10-sportswear-brands/#
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/241683/nikes-sales-worldwide-since-2004/
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Adidas-AG
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/268416/net-sales-of-the-adidas-group-worldwide-since-2000/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/268465/consolidated-sales-of-puma-worldwide-since-1993/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/259174/net-sales-of-under-armour-worldwide/
- https://www.forbes.com/companies/new-balance/?sh=bcdf6593fd48
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/291238/net-revenue-of-lululemon-worldwide/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/412809/asics-revenue/
- https://www.sneakerjagers.com/en/n/fila-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-brand/22861
- https://www.highsnobiety.com/tag/reebok/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/268422/net-sales-of-the-reebok-brand-worldwide-since-2006/
