Overview
Academy Sports + Outdoors is one of the leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor retailers in the United States, with more than 300 stores across 21 states and an online store at academy.com that ships to customers across most of the country. It sells sports and fitness equipment, outdoor and camping gear, hunting and fishing products, apparel and footwear. For a brand in sports, outdoor or active lifestyle, Academy is a route into a large US retailer that is still opening new stores every year.
Who is behind Academy
Academy was founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas and is now a publicly listed company on Nasdaq (ticker ASO), headquartered in Katy, Texas. In fiscal 2025, which ended on 31.01.2026, net sales were USD 6.05 billion, up 2.0% on the year before. The company opened 24 new stores during fiscal 2025, moved into Pennsylvania and Maryland, and plans another 20 to 25 new stores in fiscal 2026. Stores and online orders are supplied from three distribution centres in Katy (Texas), Twiggs County (Georgia) and Cookeville (Tennessee).
What the shopper sees
Academy serves shoppers both in store and online, and online is the faster-growing part. In the third quarter of fiscal 2025, e-commerce sales grew 22.2% while total sales grew 3.0%. The company runs the myAcademy loyalty programme, which management has described as having around 12 million members, and offers on-demand delivery through DoorDash from its stores.
The assortment mixes Academy's own brands with national brands. In recent years Academy has added brands such as Nike and Jordan, and partnered with L.L.Bean and Fanatics to bring their products into stores and onto academy.com.
How brands can sell through Academy
Academy does not run an open marketplace where any seller can list products. Brands work with Academy as suppliers, through one of two routes:
- Wholesale vendor. Academy buys the products and sells them in its stores and online. New vendors contact the buyers through separate forms for apparel, footwear, outdoor, and sports and recreation, linked from Academy's vendor page.
- Drop ship. Academy lists the products on academy.com and the brand ships orders directly to the customer. Academy runs its drop ship programme with Rithum (formerly CommerceHub), and new suppliers start with a drop ship pre-screening questionnaire.
A brand considering Academy should be ready with the following:
- Vendor paperwork. Drop ship onboarding includes a vendor term agreement, a vendor fact sheet, an onboarding form and a product catalogue.
- Clean product data and images. Each item needs a vendor part number or SKU and images that meet Academy's image standards.
- A connection to Rithum for drop ship orders and inventory, with accurate stock levels.
- Packaging that follows the drop ship rules. Orders ship in new, plain corrugated boxes or poly mailers.
- US fulfilment. Wholesale goods go to Academy's distribution centres, and drop ship orders go straight to US customers, so the brand needs stock and logistics in the United States.
Why Academy matters for brands
Academy is a buyer-led retailer, not a marketplace. A listing depends on a buyer choosing the product or approving it for drop ship, but once it is in, the brand sells next to large national brands in a store network that keeps growing beyond its Texas roots. For a brand that already sells on Amazon or its own webshop in the US, Academy adds a sporting goods retailer with both physical stores and a growing online business.
How eBrands looks at Academy
eBrands works with brands on marketplaces and retail channels across Europe and North America. If you are thinking about US sporting goods retail and want to see how a retailer like Academy could sit alongside the channels you already use, we are happy to talk it through.
Useful links
Ready to go global?
Let us show you how eBrands can take your brand to every market that matters.