Activewear in the United States - statistics & facts
The activewear market, comprising of several product categories such as footwear, sportswear, swimwear, and yoga wear, has seen healthy growth over the last half-decade. The rising popularity of activewear in day-to-day life has blurred the lines of activewear and fashion, spawning a new category of apparel, called 'athleisure'. Activewear itself, however, refers to clothing worn during exercise or specifically for physical activity. It is also known as sportswear or performance apparel.
Nike is by far the most popular and lucrative athletic brand in the United States, given by its leading positions in many different rankings. However, companies like adidas and lululemon are catching up and making their mark on the activewear market.
Leading brands in the U.S.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for many, Nike was the leading active apparel company worldwide by sales in 2024. That year, Nike generated just under 49 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. This was followed by adidas, whose revenue totaled approximately 12.5 billion U.S. dollars. In addition to this, Nike and adidas have the largest market capitalization of any sportswear companies. They even out-perform other major apparel brands such as H&M in that respect. Nike and adidas are among the leading companies by market capitalization. While these two companies dominate the activewear market, they are consistently challenged. In the United States alone, the net revenue of lululemon, a Canadian sports apparel brand, more than quadrupled between the years of 2014 and 2024.State of the U.S. activewear market
In 2024, the sports and swimwear apparel market revenue in the U.S. was estimated to be worth approximately 79 billion U.S. dollars. This is forecast to rise to nearly 94 million U.S. dollars by 2029. The athletic footwear market growth, however, saw a different trend, with a 0.2 percent growth in 2024. Moving forward, this part of the footwear market is forecast to decrease steadily from 2025 to 2030.Consumer’s love for Nike
When it comes to consumers’ preferred sportswear brands, Nike very often comes out on top. It ranked as the most used sports and outdoor online shop in the U.S., as well as the sportswear brand with the highest awareness among American consumers, followed by adidas. The high level of awareness of Nike is largely due to its extensive advertising campaigns, including the numerous sponsorship deals the company has with leading teams and athletes in the United States and worldwide.Nike is by far the most popular and lucrative athletic brand in the United States, given by its leading positions in many different rankings. However, companies like adidas and lululemon are catching up and making their mark on the activewear market.
