Sports brands or, more precisely, sportswear brands have been booming for quite some time now. More and more people all over the world are joining in on the trend for more exercise and sports in their daily lives. An unsurprising development considering an active lifestyle has proven beneficial to your health and life expectancy. In order to exercise you need the right gear to support you during your hopefully regular dose of sporting activity and make you feel as comfortable as possible while doing so.
Take all these facts together and you won’t find it surprising that the global sportswear market has steadily grown over the last few decades and is now generating hundreds of billions in revenues put together. The leading sportswear brands each achieve sportswear sales in the billions and are prestigious brands known the world over for combining fashion and style with functional and high product quality. These brands not only outfit professional athletes but also set wearing trends among hobby athletes and even in everyday life.
Two sportswear brands in particular have been dominating the market for around three decades now. While these two brands are still comfortable in the lead, there are quite a number of sports brands that have emerged fairly recently and are now also part of the global top ten of sportswear brands. The following ranking lists all of the ten biggest sportswear brands in the world, based on achieved global sportswear sales.
Note: This Top 10 ranking lists the Top 10 sportswear brands in the world, excluding brands that mainly focus on sporting goods and sports equipment. There is a separate Top 10 ranking of the 10 largest sporting goods brands.
The 10 Biggest Sportswear Brands in the World 2024
1. Nike
Nike remains the biggest sportswear brand in the world. Nike is the main brand of Nike, Inc., the world’s largest sportswear company. The Oregon-based American company has been the leader and trendsetter within the global sportswear market for decades now and is also well known for its many sponsorship deals with athletes from around the world and its many viral marketing campaigns seen around the world, which also established the Nike logo as one of the most recognized and iconic brand logos in the world.
Shoes, especially sneakers, still represent the main product line of Nike, but they are far from the only sportswear products that Nike offers. Beyond footwear, the brand also offers essentially all kinds of sports and athletic apparel and is dominating that segment of the sportswear industry as well.
2. Adidas
Adidas follows as the second-largest sportswear brand in the world. Like arch competitor Nike, the German company mainly produces shoes for all sorts of sports and sporting activities but has also established itself as a more general sports brand at this point and is active in many other domains of the world of sports and daily sporting lifestyle. Founded in 1949 by Adolf “Adi” Dassler after a falling out with his brother Rudolf, the founder of Puma, Adidas also belongs to the oldest still-existing sportswear brands in the world.
3. Lululemon
Lululemon is the world’s third-biggest sportswear brand. The Canadian sportswear company Lululemon Athletica and its Lululemon brand are the global leaders in yoga and gym apparel. Lululemon is thus proof that you can be a major player in the sportswear market without selling footwear. As one of the fastest-growing sportswear brands, Lululemon profits from the increasing popularity of Yoga and fitness around the world and while its customers are still mainly women, Lulelumeon’s various workout and other activewear products are now increasingly popular among men also.
4. Puma
Puma follows as the fourth-largest sportswear brand in the world, albeit at some distance. The German sportswear company was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler, the brother of Adidas founder Adolf Dassler. Puma is based in the same small Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach as Adidas. While it is smaller than its brotherly company, Puma still holds a strong fourth place in the global sportswear market, being also a leading manufacturer of sports footwear, and sports apparel of many other sorts, including t-shirts, jogging pants, and other comfort clothing.
5. Jordan Brand
The Jordan Brand completes the Top Five of the world’s biggest sportswear brands. Owned by Nike, the brand is inspired by and named after NBA Hall of Famer and basketball legend Michael Jordan, who still gets a share of every Jordan Brand shoe sold. The Jordan Brand is first and foremost globally known for its “Air Jordan” basketball shoe line with new releases every year. Nike originally planned to release only a single shoe line with Jordan in 1984, but it proved so popular that the company made an entire brand out of it. The Jordan Brand now continues to contribute billions of dollars to Nike’s overall revenue each year.
6. New Balance
New Balance ranks sixth among the biggest sportswear brands in the world. The brand and its parent company New Balance Athletics have a rich heritage, as the company was originally founded in 1906 as a manufacturer of arch support. The Boston-based American company is now selling its own shoes and is therefore the oldest brand in the global sportswear market. New Balance specializes in producing comfortable, durable shoes, catering to a wide range of athletes from baseball to volleyball as well as casual wearers from around the world.
7. Under Armour
Under Armour takes seventh place in the list of the biggest sportswear brands in the world. The American company is also mainly offering footwear and represents the youngest among the leading global sportswear brands, having been founded only in the mid-90s. However, the Baltimore-based sportswear brand has been quite ambitious and is rising fast in the overall footwear and sporting apparel industry, having also diversified into more casual apparel, thus expanding its global customer base to professional and amateur athletes alike.
8. Li-Ning
Li-Ning comes in eighth in the ranking of the world’s ten biggest sportswear brands. The Chinese company and brand was founded in 1989 by former Chinese Olympic athlete Li Ning after whom the brand is also named. Especially in the most recent past, the brand has experienced tremendous growth and established itself as one of the major sportswear companies in Asia, while also making strides beyond the company’s home continent. Li-Ning’s main product is sports footwear, but the brand also offers various other sportswear products for different sports and occasions.
9. Asics
Asics takes ninth place in the ranking of the world’s largest sportswear brands. The Japanese company is another one that mainly focuses on the manufacture of footwear. The Kobe-based brand and company, originally known as ‘Onitsuka Tiger’, has primarily earned a global reputation for its ergonomically designed high-quality running shoes. However, Asics now has also ventured into many other sports territories, offering a wide range of products suitable for different sports, including tennis, volleyball, and fitness, while also establishing itself as a leading “athleisure” lifestyle brand outside of sports.
10. Columbia Sportswear
Columbia Sportswear completes the ranking of the world’s ten biggest sportswear brands. The American company is the global leader in outerwear which includes special shoes (e.g. for hiking), boots, jackets, and other gear and fabric tailored to adventurers and nature enthusiasts, as well as fans of skiing and extreme sports that involve a long trail. However, Columbia Sportswear has also expanded its range to include casual and lifestyle wear that blends utility with style. The Oregon-based company exists since 1938 and is hence considerably older than even Nike, which is based in the same suburban town of Portland, Oregon.
The 10 Biggest Sportswear Brands in the World:
| Brand Name: | HQ: | Worldwide sportswear sales: |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Nike | Beaverton, Oregon, USA | $41.6 billion |
| 2. Adidas | Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany | $23.2 billion |
| 3. Lululemon | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | $9.6 billion |
| 4. Puma | Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany | $9.3 billion |
| 5. Jordan Brand | Beaverton, Oregon, USA | $6.6 billion |
| 6. New Balance | Boston, Massachusetts, USA | $6.5 billion |
| 7. Under Armour | Baltimore, Maryland, USA | $5.8 billion |
| 8. Li-Ning | Beijing, China | $3.8 billion |
| 9. Asics | Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan | $3.7 billion |
| 10. Columbia Sportswear | Beaverton, Oregon, USA | $3.5 billion |
The ten biggest sportswear brands in the world by most current achieved annual sportswear sales. Only sportswear brands are considered in the ranking, excluding companies that primarily make sports equipment and non-sports fashion brands. Sales for brands are counted individually, even if they belong to the same parent sportswear company.
Sources for Ranking:
Macrotrends & Annual Reports of the respective sportswear companies
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