8:44 AM Mon, Jul 20, 2009 | Permalink
Carolyn Thornton  Email
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From Running USA:
Running USA's State of the Sport 2009
Part I - Running Industry Expected to Place Well in U.S. Recession Marathon
The results are in. Considering that just about every running related stat is up, Americans have provided evidence with their feet and credit cards that running - as an industry, a fitness activity and a competitive sport - is indeed recession resistant.
Modest Declines Seen by Majority of Sport Related Companies
The 2008 wholesale figures for U.S. sporting goods provided by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) are not bad considering that was a year when the stock market dropped 33.8%. Compared to 2007, the total wholesale dollars shipped were down only 3.2% to $66.3 billion, the sports apparel component was down 2% to $28.9 billion and athletic footwear shipments dropped 4.6% to $12.4 billion. NSGA's "Sporting Goods Market Report Historical Data" offers a similar view of recent declines and provides a 28-year context. In 1998, sporting goods retail sales totaled $69.83 billion dollars in the U.S. After peaking in 2007 at $91.4 billion, NSGA's estimate decreased to $79.6 billion in 2008 and is projected at $72.1 billion for 2009. Footwear sales also peaked in 2007, but is predicted to stay at the same level for 2009. Sports apparel, on the other hand, has been flat for the last five years and in 2008 with $10.6 billion in sales, was considerably lower than the 1998 total of $12.85 billion.
But Running Products and Services Fared Well
In contrast to the overall sports industry, the growth seen in many areas of the running world from shoe sales to road race participation was impressive, especially in the context of the economy. NSGA's "Sporting Goods Market in 2009"reports that retail sales dollars of the running / jogging category of footwear were up 5% (to $2.3 billion), numbers of running shoe units were up 2% and running apparel increased 1%. The larger corporations like Nike, adidas and Finish Line had their financial difficulties, but it was not due to their running products declining in popularity. And in the case of Runner's World magazine which saw a decline of 0.8% in dollars and 6% in number of pages after strong growth in recent years, significant ad revenue disappeared from non-running entities like the auto industry.
Millions of Americans Running Away from Troubles
One reason the industry is healthy is that there has been a parallel increase in the running population. NSGA estimates that the total running population in 2008 was 35,904,000 - an increase of 18.2% over 2007! The Outdoor Industry's estimate for number of U.S. trail runners in 2008 was 4,857,000, an increase of 15.2%.
U.S. Running Participation Numbers for 2008
SGMA (1) Total Runners Run/Jog at least once 41,130,000
SGMA (1) Core Participants Run/Jog 50 days/yr 23,402,000
SGMA (1) Frequent Runners Run/Jog 100+ days/yr 14,974,000
OI (1) Total Trail Runners Run on trails at least once 4,857,000
NSGA (2) All Runners Run/Jog 6 days/yr 35,904,000
NSGA (2) Frequent Runners Run/Jog 110+ days/yr 7,783,000
Click here to see the rest of Running USA's State of the Sport 2009: Part I.
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The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association is delighted to see that its research is being used to support stories on running for readers of the Providence Journal!
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