The American Image and Trends in the Sporting Goods Industry; The Post 9/11 Marlboro Man Is Reborn Hard

By: Kellyann Davis
CEO, BlackSand Research


According to the National Sporting Goods Association, running, trips to the gym, mountain biking, basketball, recreational boating, hunting, skateboarding, hiking, and weightlifting enjoyed significant increases in participation last year. Other activities including camping, paintball, cheerleading, cross country skiing, scooter riding and baseball lost active participants. It's more than putting down that Razor scooter in favor of a skateboard, even the makers of the Razor saw that coming; we see interesting trends toward activities that we can enjoy closer to home like a day trip to the lake or quick hikes on a local trail rather than a cross country ski trip or a wilderness camping trip. Americans are staying closer to home and their recreation reflects this trend.

Another interesting spike in the numbers lies in a recent increase after a long and hard decline in the number of persons enjoying target shooting, bow hunting, and hunting with firearms. Could this trend, in conjunction with what we see overall in last year's trends reflect America's current mood? Maybe. The data indicate that Americans are making different choices about their recreation that probably reflect our post 9/11 reality. How can sporting goods manufacturers and retailers keep pace with these trends and move with them rather than against the tide? If more people are interested in running this year, and growth was in the ten percent range then how can the industry make sure it reaches those new customers with shoes, apparel, food, and other products related to supporting their new activity. The same is true for target shooters, and bicycle riders both enjoyed more than a million new participants last year. More than 12 million persons decided to start lifting weights last year, the largest increase over all of the measured categories.

So what does this really tell us about trends in the sporting goods industry? Americans adults want to be bigger and stronger, leaner, and better at hitting their targets when they shoot their guns. Oh, and they like to spend a day out on the boat a bit more too. In fact, this trend is reflected in the food industry in the increase in consumption of red meat while consumption of dairy and grains falls. Is this trend a rebirth of the meat and potatoes American man [and woman] with broad shoulders and a steady gun? Looks like the Marlboro Man [and woman] tossed the smokes, road his bike to the gym, and picked up the weights... all so he could look better on his new boat that he plans to protect with a gun that his wife really knows how to shoot. Sounds a lot like the image the Republican party worked with to reach the millions of NASCAR Dads and Soccer Moms during the 2004 Presidential campaign. Okay, maybe they kept the Mom with a gun image in their bag, but not too far in. Yes, this sounds a little bit glib, but gun or no gun, image is key to maximizing sales in this industry. We must pay attention to image that Americans are striving for, it's more important to their purchases then who they actually are in their day to day lives. How American want to see themselves and their children has a huge impact on how they spend in the sporting goods industry.

And speaking of their children, in the past 15 years, "extreme" sports have gained 50 million [mostly young] participants. They spend billions on equipment, food, TV shows, apparel and music successfully targeted directly at them. In fact, this reflects an overall trend among youth away from team sports and headlong into individual sports such as boarding and mountain biking. It isn't just a category of sports either, this is a lifestyle with all of the accessories. And for those of you interested in emerging markets like China, a nice boy named Danny Way recently jumped his skateboard over the Great Wall with an 8 Chinese TV stations and several international stations looking on. Keep in mind that China has 1.3 billion people and birth policies have led to a rather unbalanced ratio of "only child" boys to girls. That sounds like an interesting target market.

In fact, wages in the industry are expected to grow more than 25 perecent by 2014 due to rising demand. That is more than 10 percent faster than the rest of the economy. Where will all of those new customers spend their money? Based on our American image theory, Dad is buying a boat, Mom is headed to the gym, Daughter is running and Son is grinding an edge on his skateboard. And somewhere in China a mother is buying her only son a snowboard.

In the next installment, we'll look at the demographic breakdowns in purchasing patterns of sporting goods. Sneak peak: Surprise, surprise more women than ever are buying guns and women like to practice shooting them at targets. Also, stay tuned to learn about new diet trends that are sure to bleed into the sporting goods industry.