About this report
Sportswear has been through the boom times of the 1990s and is now suffering from a severe bout of consolidation. With many mainstream brands labelled as 'chav fashion', its acceptance as everyday casual clothing is facing a major challenge. In a polarising market, splitting between performance sportswear, casual fashion and comfort clothing those left in the middle are in a very precarious situation

Yet despite these problems, the sportswear market offers some real opportunities for the future, with the UK being promised a 'golden decade' of sport, not least due to the 2012 London Olympics. Some brands, linked to outdoor and more specialist pursuits, like The North Face and golf heritage label Lyle & Scott, are maintaining and developing a wider lifestyle fashion audience. Rising participation rates in sporting activity and a recovering consumer economy are likely to boost spending on performance sportswear and mean that those retailers still around enjoy a much more buoyant environment.

Main themes

What are consumers' attitudes towards sports fashion and the reasons for wearing sportswear?

Is the sports fashion market polarising between different consumer groups?

What are the key innovations and opportunities within the sportswear market?

How are different retailers faring in the sports fashion market and what are their prospects?

What are the influences on the sportswear market that will affect its growth in the future, both negatively and positively?

Issues in the Market

Main themes
The aim of this report
Market definition
Abbreviations
Market in Brief

Sportswear: Run out of fashion?
Consumers cut back and make do with old sportswear
Fewer sports fans...
…but more taking part in sport
Three-way split among consumers
Who are the winners and losers?
JD Sports Fashion continues success
Blacks Leisure under financial pressure as well
Sports Direct International benefits from discount boom
Niche chains and internet outperform
What does the future hold for the sports fashion market?
Internal Market Environment

Key points
Football interest in decline but still most popular
Figure 1: Interest in named sports, top 15, 2004, 2006 and 2008
Sports fashion trends
Recession bites…
Figure 2: Trends in expenditure on sports clothing, 2006-08
…but sports shoes suffer less
Figure 3: Trends in sports shoes buying, 2004-08
Exercise is increasingly popular
Figure 4: People who do some form of exercise/sport at least once a week, 2004-08
How persuasive are ads?
Figure 5: Trends in shopping statements, 2004-08
Internet shopping now a major part of consumers' lifestyles
Figure 6: Trends in shopping statements, 2004-08
Broader Market Environment

Key points
More ABs will help sports sales
Figure 7: Adult population trends, by socio-economic group, 2004, 2009 and 2014
Age group challenges for the sportswear market
Figure 8: Structure of the UK population, by age, 2004, 2009 and 2014
Figure 9: Trends in the age structure of the UK population, by gender, 2004, 2009 and 2014
Recession affects spending
Figure 10: Trends in personal disposable income and consumer expenditure, 2004-14
Internet penetration and broadband use: Two thirds now have access
Figure 11: Broadband internet penetration at home, 2003-09
Figure 12: British internet penetration at home/work/place of study or elsewhere, by gender, socio-economic group, age, region and working status, 2003-09
Market in Context

Key points
Total fashion market growth slows
Figure 13: Total spend on clothing and footwear and total sports fashion, at current prices, 2004-09
Sports clothing loses share
Figure 14: Total spend on clothing compared with sports clothing, at current prices, 2004-09
Sports footwear fares better than clothing
Figure 15: Sports footwear compared with overall footwear spending, 2004-09
Strengths and Weaknesses in the Market

Strengths
Weaknesses
Market Size and Forecast

Key points
Sports fashion market set for contraction in 2009 and 2010
Longer-run prospects brighter
Figure 16: Total sports clothing and footwear market, at current and constant 2009 prices, 2004-14
Retail Competitor Analysis

Key points
Overview of the market
Sports Direct International takes advantage of the recession
JD Sports Fashion makes most of fashion segment
JJB Sports drops into third place
Blacks Leisure shows signs of revival
Niche and discount retail benefit from growing sports participation
Figure 17: Leading specialist sports clothing and footwear retailers, 2009
Figure 18: Smaller specialist and online sports retailers, 2009
Figure 19: Selected non-specialist sports retailers, 2009
Companies and Products

Leading sports specialists
Blacks Leisure Group
JD Sports Fashion
JJB Sports
Sports Direct
Brand Communication and Promotion

Key points
Figure 30: Main monitored media advertising spend on sports clothing, 2005-08
Press leads media split despite cuts
Figure 31: Advertising spend, by media, 2006-08
adidas beefs up adspend
Figure 32: Main monitored media advertising spend on sports clothing, by top advertisers, 2006-08
Recent major campaigns
Channels to Market

Key points
Sports specialists still dominant
Figure 33: Estimated retail distribution, sports clothing and footwear, 2009
What Sports Clothing They Buy

Key points
Figure 34: Sports clothing bought in the last 12 months, May 2009
Most consumers buy sports shoes
Figure 35: Trends in expenditure on trainers, 2006-08
Jogging bottoms – for comfort and style but not for the sporty
Sports T-shirts – favoured by young men
Shorts – male and upmarket
Hooded tops – downmarket youth fashion?
Football replica shirts are male and downmarket
Track tops: Northern and female
Sports jackets, rugby shirts and sweatshirts all male garments
Appendix – Internal Market Environment

Figure 39: Participation in the top ten sports individually*, 2004-08
Figure 40: Shopping statements, by ownership of sports clothing/accessories, 2008
Figure 41: Sports clothing buying, by demographics, 2008
Figure 42: Exercise done, by demographics, 2008
Figure 43: Most popular individual sports activities taken part in regularly, by demographics, 2008
Figure 44: Next most popular individual sports activities taken part in regularly, by demographics, 2008
Figure 45: Trends in sports clubs belong to/visit regularly, 2004-08
Figure 46: Shopping statements, by demographics, 2008
Figure 47: Trends in individual sports/team sports/outdoor activities taken part in regularly, 2004-08
Figure 48: Trends in weekday hobbies and sport, 2004-08
Appendix – Broader Market Environment

Figure 49: UK broadband penetration, by demographics, April 2009
Appendix – Brand Communication and Promotion

Figure 50: Adspend, by sports category, 2006-08
Appendix – What Sports Clothing They Buy

Figure 51: Most popular types of sports clothing bought in the last 12 months, by demographics, May 2009
Figure 52: Next most popular types of sports clothing bought in the last 12 months, by demographics, May 2009