SGMA Final Tally: Sporting Goods Sales Grow 0.5% in 2003.

According to SGMA International's Recreation Market Report, manufacturers' sales of sporting goods equipment, sports apparel, athletic footwear, and recreational transport items in the U.S. totaled $68.6 billion in 2003 - a 0.5% increase over 2002.

Breaking it out by category, sports equipment sales nudged ahead to $17.5 billion in 2003 vs. $17.4 billion in 2002. The six largest categories of sports equipment are exercise equipment machines ($3.80 billion); golf ($2.42 billion); firearms/hunting ($1.90 billion); camping ($1.72 billion); team/institutional ($1.56 billion); and fishing ($1.03 billion).

Sport categories registering significant sales gains were:
* Paintball (up 5.4% to $390 million);
* Ice skates/hockey (up 4.9% to $215 million);
* Water ski equipment (up 4.9% to $128 million);
* Optical goods (up 4.3% to $600 million);
* Footballs and sets (up 4.2% to $125 million); and
* Billiards (up 4.1% to $255 million).

In the exercise equipment category, treadmill sales account for 26.4% of that category. Also, sales of elliptical machines increased by 16.7% - from $120 million in 2002 to $140 million in 2003. After treadmills, the next two largest fitness categories are home gyms ($305 million) and exercise cycles ($200 million). Consumer spending for exercise equipment accounts for 81.3% of the entire exercise equipment category.

In team sports, the three largest categories were baseball/softball ($473 million); basketball ($377 million); and soccer ($240 million). Sales of baseball/softball protective gear rose 11.1% from $45 million in 2002 to $50 million in 2003, well above the growth rate of the entire baseball/softball category (1.1%).

Sports apparel sales fell 2.5% in 2003. Despite the slight drop, it is still the largest segment of the sports and recreation industry with sales of $22.8 billion. Activewear tops had the highest sales - $12.7 billion in 2003. Socks had the highest percentage gain - 10.7% (from $795 million in 2002 to $870 million in 2003). Other sports apparel items experiencing sales growth were sweatpants, shorts, underwear (male), sports bras, and outerwear.

Athletic footwear sales rose 4.2% in 2003. Total sales were $9.73 billion, compared with $9.34 billion in 2002. Three athletic footwear categories exceeded the billion dollar mark: running/jogging ($2.77 billion); basketball ($2.07 billion); and cross-training/fitness ($1.06 billion).
The growth categories in athletic footwear were low performance (up 19.6%); tennis (up 16.9%); aerobic (up 11.1%); basketball (up 6.2%); and running (up 2.0%).

Recreational transport sales had a slight growth of 2.1% - from $18.14 billion in 2002 to $18.53 billion in 2003. Sales of pleasure boats/motors, recreational vehicles, and personal watercraft were up by low, single-digit percentages.

The SGMA's Recreation Market Report is based on data from industry trade associations, a panel consisting of sporting goods companies''marketing experts, and SGMA market research studies.