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The Leading Fashion Sportswear Brands – Who Leads the Market?

The global activewear market remains incredibly lucrative, peaking at a cumulative size of $319.4 billion in 2022. According to Statista, the market is also expected to peak above $450 billion by the year 2028, highlighting a CAGR of approximately 11.82% during the reporting period.

A picture soccer player wearing Nike boots

Like many markets of this type, the sports and activewear market is dominated by a handful of major players. Just as the leading online sportsbooks claim a dominant share of the global iGaming space, a select few fashion sportswear brands compete most for the attention of customers. But who are the biggest players in this space?

Breaking Down Activewear and the Rise of Luxury Sportswear Brands

Before we take a closer look at the leading active sportswear brands, let’s drill down a little deeper into the market and its key drivers. Unsurprisingly, it’s younger consumers who dominate the space, with activewear playing a seminal role in their daily wardrobe choices. Members of ‘Gen Z’ are also increasingly preoccupied with health and fitness, while the outlook of millennials also shifted during the coronavirus pandemic.

In terms of demographics, women make up the majority of activewear purchases. In fact, females account for some 60% of such transactions across the globe, although the male demographic is becoming more active and closing the gap here. This will undoubtedly be an interesting space to watch in the future.

In terms of how activewear products and garments are procured, an impressive 45% of all transactions are processed online. This percentage continues to rise with every passing year too. Even when completing offline purchases, it’s thought that online stores play an active role in driving more than 80% of completed transactions.

These trends are continuing to shape the marketplace and how the leading fashion sportswear brands position themselves. But which companies dominate this space at the time of writing, and what factors set them apart from the majority of their competition? Let’s find out!

Nike – The Most Iconic of All Active Sportswear Brands

Where else to start but with Nike, which of all the leading active and luxury sportswear brands, can lay claim to being the biggest and most iconic. Renowned for the depth and quality of its product range and its famous marketing campaigns, Nike has been providing activewear to people across the globe for decades now.

Make no mistake: the famous Nike ‘tick’ can be observed on every street corner in virtually every corner of the globe, which helps to explain why the brand banked $51.36 billion in revenue in 2024. This is more than double its nearest rival (Adidas), highlighting Nike’s clear and sustained dominance of the marketplace.

To this end, Nike also provides sportswear and footwear to the world’s leading sports franchises and players. In the realm of soccer alone, Nike supplies clubs including Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, PSG, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid, while contributing boots and activewear to leading players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski.

These factors alone establish Nike as the mother of all sports fashion brands. The company also continues to build on this by investing heavily in commercial partnerships and innovative, multi-channel marketing campaigns, with the ‘Just Do It’ advertising slogan having played a key role in helping Nike to separate themselves from their rivals.

Adidas – The Market Leading Sportswear Brand in Europe

Next on our list is Adidas, which remains Nike’s closest competitor despite banking revenue of just $24.56 billion in 2024. While it may trail its rival in the global marketplace, however, Adidas remains dominant in Europe and has established itself as the most generative of all active sportswear brands on the continent.

Adidas has also operated for longer than Nike, with its heritage and history dating back to 1940. At this time, Adi Dassler separated from his partner Rudolf to create the standalone Adidas brand, with the pair having formerly partnered to form the ‘Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory’ way back in 1924.

Due to the prevailing reputation of Adidas in mainland Europe, they’ve formed sponsorship and supplier partnerships with some of the region’s biggest sporting institutions. These include (in no particular order) Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal, FC Bayern Munich and Juventus. The brand also has connections with some of the top football federations in the world, such as Germany, Spain, Belgium and Argentina.

In terms of individual athlete sponsorships, Adidas boasts longstanding agreements with Mohamed Salah, Karim Benzema, Jude Bellingham and the legendary Lionel Messi, to name just a few. Outside of soccer, Adidas also sponsors Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, alongside veteran NBA point guard Damian Lillard.

Lululemon Athletica – Leading the Way in Luxury Sports Apparel

Next up is Lululemon Athletica, which is one of the leading luxury sportswear brands in the world at the time of writing. It’s certainly the most generative, posting total revenue of $9.62 billion in 2023 and superseding more established brands like Puma. This is also the first brand on our list that’s based in Canada.

This brand has built its name, reputation and earnings on reputation, as it continues to roll out sportswear of almost unparalleled quality. The brand is also known for producing well-fitting sportswear for both male and female customers, although Lululemon’s target demographic remains females aged between 18 and 45.

Of course, the brand started out its commercial life manufacturing and supplying yoga wear (primarily leggings) almost exclusively to female customers. Over time, however, it has developed ranges to suit a number of different needs and active lifestyles, whether you’re a committed runner, tennis player or simply in search of stylish and fitted loungewear.

Another area in which Lululemon excels is the development of highly technical fabrics and functional designs. In fact, the brand likes to blaze a trail for others to follow, constantly working with athletes to improve its ranges. Take the Everlux™ range, for example, which combines a double-knit constriction with unique yarn to keep consumers cool and dry even during intense workouts.

Puma – A Longstanding and Reliable Favourite

Puma actually shares a great deal of its history and backstory with rivals Adidas. When the aforementioned Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory was dissolved in 1940, Adi took his half of the company and formed the Adidas brand. Conversely, Rudolf established ‘Ruda’, before quickly changing the brand’s name to Puma in 1948.

Puma also remains a sportswear heavyweight, despite posting revenues that were three times lower than Adidas in 2023 ($8.601 billion) and seeing its earnings overtaken by the younger Lululemon brand. To this end, it has now been trading successfully for 77 years, while it spent its 75th anniversary celebrating its “various milestones in sports, culture and innovation”.

Over the years, some of sports most iconic names have worn the Puma brand. Perhaps the most famous is Diego Maradona, who sported Puma boots during his halcyon days in the 1980s. More recently, legends like Usain Bolt, Neymar and Lewis Hamilton have also been sponsored by the Puma brand, while Manchester City have their kits designed by the company too.

Interestingly, Puma has also built a reputation outside of the sporting realm. In fact, pop star Rihanna has worked with the brand as a women’s creative director in recent times, while she also took on the role of Puma’s global ambassador. This has helped to popularise the brand outside of traditional sports fans, while also appealing to a female audience.

Under Armour – A Feisty Underdog in a Genuinely Competitive Market

Under Armour only launched in 1996, following a spark of creative genius from founder and former CEO Kevin Plank. Then a university football player, Plank struggled to find a jersey that absorbed sweat and moisture, with this not a priority among the leading sportswear brands at the time. So, he set about designing unique moisture-soaking underlayers to be worn directly beneath sports jerseys and shorts, which in turn inspired the ‘Under Armour’ brand name.

Now one of the world’s leading fashion sportswear brands, Under Armour competes aggressively in a notoriously challenging market and posted revenue of $5.683 billion as recently as 2021. It has also continued to grow despite inspiring larger brands to design their own undergarments and absorbent kits, showcasing tremendous innovation and enduring appeal in the process.

Nowadays, Under Armour supplies apparel and activewear for a diverse array of sports, including golf, basketball and boxing. The brand has also enjoyed a formal partnership with PGA star and three-time major winner Joran Spieth since 2013, with the American now boasting his own unique range through Under Armour’s outlets (both on and offline).

Interestingly, the brand has also worked closely with Hollywood to improve its profile and global reach. To this end, it has been responsible for several product placements since the 1999 sports drama ‘Any Given Sunday’: namely Friday Night Lights (2004), The Blind Side (2009), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Lone Survivor (2013) and The Martian (2015). Its products have also featured in successful TV franchises like The Wire and House of Cards.

New Balance – A Trailblazing Foot and Sportswear Brand

Of all designer sportswear brands, New Balance has enjoyed some remarkable growth in recent years. This period has seen the brand grow its total revenue to $6.5 billion, as it out-earned Under Armour and closed the gap on Puma in 2023. In fact, New Balance is now the world’s sixth-biggest sportswear brand in terms of revenue, with the company continuing to increase its range of clothing and accessories.

However, New Balance remains best known for its footwear range, with the brand’s trainers and products famously high quality and durable. Ever since being founded 118 years ago in 1906, New Balance has constantly sought to focus on craftsmanship and functionality, creating a range of products that’s tailored for elite-level athletes.

The brand has also entered into a number of lucrative sponsorship agreements over the years, not least with the New York Road Runners (who organise and host the city’s marathon). New Balance also has arrangements with the NBA, while it directly sponsors the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox in the MLB.

Similarly, New Balance has launched various products in collaboration with other fashion and lifestyle brands, including apparel company Aimé Leon Dore. Recently, it has forged an alliance with prominent British fashion designer Paul Smith, while also entering into a partnership with NBA superstar Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Last Word

These six brands dominate the global active and sportswear market, while they continue to produce consistently high revenues year-on-year. Of course, Nike are the dominant player here with a significant market share, but Adidas, Puma and other designer brands continue to disrupt and compete tenaciously.

Other honorable mentions go to the Columbia sportswear brand, which has become renowned for its range of high-quality outdoor clothing and lifestyle apparel. Then there’s Fila, which regularly posts annual revenue figures above $3 billion and has enjoyed a significant resurgence of late as a result of its retro designs and appeal.

You’re also likely to have your own favorite sports apparel brand, based on your own unique tastes and financial budget. Regardless, the brands on this list continue to blaze a trail for others to follow, while captivating a high-value marketplace that continues to benefit from unwavering demand!

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