Getty Images
Within TSC SPIN 100, the equipment, merchandising and retail segment has delivered positive long-term returns, rising 24 per cent over five years and 14 per cent over three years on an average share price basis.
More recently, momentum has softened. The segment is down two per cent year-to-date, down five per cent over three months, and flat over six months.
That raises an interesting question: are investors becoming less optimistic about this sector, or simply more selective about where future growth will come from?
SPIN 100 suggests the latter.
Public markets are increasingly distinguishing between broad sporting goods exposure and brands positioned at the centre of growing participation trends. Companies linked to running, outdoor activity, and racquet sports appear to be benefiting from powerful tailwinds, particularly across Asia.
China shows why this matters. Outdoor activity participation crossed 500 million in 2025, as its urban middle class spends more on health, wellness and active lifestyles.
Looking beyond the headline numbers
At first glance, the equipment, merchandising and retail segment presents a mixed picture.
Several globally recognised sportswear brands and retailers have faced pressure in recent years. Adidas has navigated uneven demand across key markets. Lululemon remains well below previous highs. JD Sports has been affected by softer consumer spending.
Yet SPIN 100 also shows that weakness is not evenly distributed.
Asics, Amer Sports, On Holding and Yonex point to a different story: investor interest in specialist brands with strong technical credibility and clear exposure to participation-led demand.
The dividing line is becoming clearer. Brands trusted by serious runners, weekend hikers and recreational players are better positioned to benefit when more people take part.
Participation creates repeat demand. Technical credibility helps capture it. Runners replace shoes. Outdoor consumers upgrade kit. Tennis players buy racquets, footwear and apparel. As participation deepens, spending often follows.
Asia’s participation economy
The strongest evidence for this trend may be found in Asia.
Across China, India and other high-growth markets, participation in running, outdoor recreation and wellness activities has expanded rapidly. Major events such as the Shanghai and Xiamen Marathons have become increasingly coveted, while the Tata Mumbai Marathon recently attracted a record number of participants. Outdoor activity has also moved from niche pursuit to urban lifestyle marker.
The impact is visible across the sector.
Amer Sports grew sales across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan by 43 per cent to US$1.9 billion in 2025. On reported 44 per cent growth in Asia-Pacific in Q1 2026, highlighting momentum in China and South Korea. Columbia Sportswear also reported growth in China during 2025, citing continued strong consumer demand.
The trend extends beyond footwear. Rapha has highlighted strong demand among China’s growing cycling community, while outdoor gear has become a form of social currency for urban consumers seeking products that balance technical performance with everyday aesthetics.
For investors, this distinction matters. Participation-led growth can be more resilient than short-term fashion cycles because it is supported by repeat behaviour and community engagement.
Why Asics matters
Few companies illustrate this dynamic more clearly than Asics.
The Japanese brand has become one of the strongest performers within SPIN 100’s equipment, merchandising and retail segment, supported by growth across Greater China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Japan.
Its success reflects several connected trends: the expansion of running, rising demand for premium performance products, and the emergence of new customer pools in high-growth markets.
India is a particularly compelling example.
Asics expects its Indian business to grow by as much as 35 per cent annually over the next five years, supported by rising recreational running and broader health and wellness trends. At the Tata Mumbai Marathon in 2025, Asics was the most-worn shoe brand, with nearly one-third of racers wearing its logo.
Footwear performance sits at the centre of that story. More than 80 per cent of Asics’ global revenue comes from footwear, and the company’s positioning is built around technical credibility, product innovation and premiumisation.
At the same time, Onitsuka Tiger continues to expand the group’s lifestyle appeal among younger consumers. The brand generated net revenue of ¥136.5 billion (US$851 million) in Asics’ 2025 fiscal year, up 43 per cent year-on-year, while profits rose 59 per cent. Its operating margin reached 37.7 per cent, significantly above the wider Asics group.
Together, performance running and premium lifestyle give Asics two complementary growth engines: one rooted in participation, the other in cultural appeal.
The Amer Sports signal
Amer Sports shows that the participation theme is not confined to running.
Its portfolio spans Arc’teryx in technical outdoor apparel, Salomon in trail and mountain sports, and Wilson in tennis and racquet sports. That makes Amer less a single sportswear story and more a portfolio of premium brands sitting where participation, technical performance and lifestyle increasingly overlap.
SPIN 100 reflects that appeal. Amer has been one of the strongest performers in the segment, delivering a 154 per cent share price increase over the past three years.
While recent performance has softened alongside the wider segment, its longer-term gains suggest investors continue to value brands that can turn specialist performance products into premium consumer demand.
Companies like Asics and Amer Sports have reported sales growth across Asia amid increased demand for running and outdoor activity (Image credit: Getty Images)
Murky waters ahead?
Participation growth remains the dominant long-term story. But the same Asian markets driving demand also sit at the centre of global sportswear supply chains.
That makes recent tensions around the Strait of Hormuz relevant. The Strait carries roughly 20 per cent of global oil supply, with around 90 per cent of those exports destined for Asian markets. China accounts for approximately 38 per cent of oil passing through the corridor, while India, Japan and South Korea collectively account for a further 38 per cent.
That matters because Asia is both a major growth market and a major production hub for global sportswear and sporting goods.
Asics chief executive Mitsuyuki Tominaga was among the first major sportswear executives to address the issue publicly, warning in March 2026 that prolonged disruption could eventually force price increases.
The industry’s growth story has been built on global supply chains, efficient logistics and relatively predictable trade flows. If geopolitical uncertainty persists, those assumptions may face a more meaningful test.
What SPIN 100 is really showing
The most interesting signal from SPIN 100 is not that sporting goods is outperforming. It is not.
The segment has lost momentum in recent months, and uncertainty around consumer spending, trade and geopolitics remains elevated.
The more revealing story is where investors continue to find growth.
Across Asia, participation in running, outdoor recreation and racquet sports continues to expand. SPIN 100 suggests public markets are rewarding companies with the technical credibility to turn participation into repeat demand.
Rising geopolitical tensions may yet test that confidence, particularly if higher energy and shipping costs begin to pressure margins. For now, investors appear willing to look through those concerns where brands are tied to strong participation trends.
For years, the sportswear and sporting goods investment narrative was dominated by global brands, celebrity endorsements and fashion cycles.
Today, a different theme may be emerging. The most important trend in sportswear may not be what people are wearing. It may be the simple fact that more people are choosing to play.
The TSC SPIN 100 index tracks 100 publicly listed companies with significant exposure to the global sports economy, offering a live view of how capital markets value sport’s key segments. The Sports Consultancy advises investors and rightsholders on investment strategy and commercial growth across the sports ecosystem. Explore the index at www.tscspin100.com and learn more at www.thesportsconsultancy.com.