Global Smart Sports Equipment Market Expected to Reach $12.0 Billion by 2026

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "Smart Sports Equipment Market by Type, End User, and Distribution Channel: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026," the global smart sports equipment market size was valued at $6.6 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $12.0 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 7.9% from 2019 to 2026. Smart sports equipment are the sports equipment in which device like sensors are connected to them. These smart equipment are different from traditional sports equipment in terms of features. Unlike traditional sports equipment, these smart sports equipment are able to provide useful analytics such as the speed, spin, and the flight path of a ball. These smart sports equipment are also able to gather data and provides players with advice on how they can improve their techniques. For instance, FWD powersot is a wearable sensor that is connected to a hockey stick and allows users to track and analyze their performance. It compiles all the metrics and provides advice to the user on how to improve their techniques .Thus, it also serves as virtual coaching to the players.

The smart golf stick segment in the smart sports equipment market is anticipated to have the highest market share during the forecast period. The continuous innovation and adoption of IoT in golf equipment such as smart golf stick offers features such as showing clubhead speed, swing path, and even the club face’s angle at the time of impact provides better experience to their users. This factor boosts the demand for smart golf sticks. This in turn propels the growth of the smart sports equipment market in various countries across the globe.

The smart sports equipment market is driven by the use of IoT in these sports equipment, which allow users to track, analyze, and improve their skills, compare their performance, and improve their efficiency. Thus, this factor allows sports person to remain competitive in sports. In addition, smart sports equipment keeps sport person safe from getting injured. This drives the growth of the smart sports equipment market. Moreover, the use of IoT in sports industry is anticipated to bring ample of opportunities for the manufacturers to add new and advance features to sports equipment and create a personalized sports equipment. This fact is expected to foster the market growth in the future.

The global market is segmented on the basis of product type, end user, distribution channel, and region. Based on type, it is classified into smart balls, Smart golf sticks, smart hockey sticks, smart rackets & bats, and others. By end user, the market is bifurcated into men and women. By distribution channel, the market is divided into specialty stores, franchise stores, and online stores. By region, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

Key Findings of the Smart Sports Equipment Market: 

• Based on product type, the smart golf stick segment accounted for the highest smart sports equipment market share in 2018, growing at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2019 to 2026.
• Based on end user, the men segment accounted for about 54.2% share of the smart sports equipment share in 2018 and is expected to experience growth at a CAGR of 7.6%.
• Based on distribution channel, the franchise store segment accounted for about 41.0% share of the smart sports equipment share in 2018 and is expected to experience growth at the highest CAGR of 7.6% during the smart sports equipment market analysis.
• Based on region, North America accounted for about 32.3% of the smart sports equipment market size in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5%
• The smart hockey sticks segment is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.6% in the smart sports equipment forecast.

The key players operating in the smart sports equipment industry are NIKE, Inc., Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc., PUMA SE, Adidas AG, Wilson Sporting Goods, BABOLAT VS S.A., HockeyShot Inc., Riddell, Zepp Labs, Inc., and Gridiron Technologies.