ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the dynamic and changing world of sports retailing. For a long period of time the retail component of sports was focused on the sales of tickets, programmes and pies to fans attending events, and on the kit and equipment to ‘do’ sport (or games) as a participant. Retailing involved selling entry to an event or the ‘stuff’ to play sport at whatever level. This has altered radically over recent decades in a number of ways, but most notably in the retail sales of items that associate an individual with a sport, a club, a brand or an event. Retailing in sport is now often more about selling a lifestyle, an identity or an experience than it is about selling equipment or kit. This rise of sports items as leisure wear and everyday clothing is a major feature of the UK, and other, markets. This fundamental change is considered at the outset of this chapter, together with further developments that have run alongside, most notably the increasing impact of branding in sport and the associated role of the rise of global media, sports celebrity and the internet. This is then followed by a section on the operations of retailing and the opportunities and challenges this poses for sports retailing. The chapter concludes by considering future directions of sport retailing including the internet and internationalisation.
