So maybe you can’t hit a 100-mile-per-hour fastball or run a 40-yard dash in under five seconds. Your dreams of being a professional athlete may not come true, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a living as a sports business owner.
The truth is that for every person who succeeds as a professional athlete, there are countless more who work in some form of sports business. They contribute to a sports industry set to be worth $56.84 billion by 2030 in the US alone.
Whether you want to work for established teams or start a sports company of your own, there are many ways to enter the fitness sector and make a good living. Below are some profitable sports business ideas for entrepreneurs and sports enthusiasts.
Why start your own sports business?
Whatever your relationship to sports, you have plenty of reasons to consider launching a sports-related business. Some of the benefits of starting your own sports business include:
Personal fulfillment
Starting a sports-related business lets you turn your passion into a fulfilling career. Sports help people stay active and physically fit, whether they’re competing in local sports events or engaged in Olympic training programs—something even armchair athletes can get behind.
Plus, if you harbor a competitive streak from your athletic days, you may appreciate the autonomy and control of operating your own business. As a sports entrepreneur, you’ll make decisions, set your own hours, take on new competition, and stay connected to the activities you love.
Earning potential
Successful sports businesses can generate significant revenue and provide financial stability for their founders.
Last year, the U.S. sports equipment market netted more than $19 billion, while the global sports event market made more than $450 billion. Revenue from women’s sports alone is expected to grow 16% per year to 2030.
You don’t have to be a solo business owner to make money in this market. There’s plenty of opportunity to hire employees. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 99,700 job openings are expected each year until 2034, with a median annual wage of $54,870 for entertainment and sports occupations—around $5,000 per year higher than the average job.
Partnership and networking opportunities
Entrepreneurship can be lonely. But sports is a naturally sociable industry, and great for entrepreneurs with an outgoing personality and good people skills.
Working in the sports industry can lead to fulfilling connections with athletes, coaches, agents, and other industry professionals. For instance, if you have your own shop selling equipment, you can establish relationships with professional athletes who could become brand ambassadors for your merchandise.
Top sports business ideas
- Train athletes
- Create a sports apparel brand
- Run a retail sports store
- Sell sports nutrition and supplements
- Market sports brands
- Starts a sports media company
- Run a sports blog
- Develop sports technology
- Consult athletes
- Coach sports
- Start a sports medicine business
- Start a sports gaming venture
- Open a sports bar
- Organize sports leagues
- Start a sports camp business
- Be a sports photographer
- Become a sports journalist
- Rent out sports facilities
- Run a yoga studio
- Open a gym
From organizing local sports leagues to starting online sports and gaming ventures, there are many profitable business opportunities for sports lovers. Here are some of the best sports business ideas for modern entrepreneurs with diverse skill sets.
1. Train athletes
The sports training market extends far beyond coaching teams or players for competition. Sports training involves overall fitness and rehabilitation.
You can offer personal training services at a fitness center, online fitness training via video chat, or home visits.
Consider getting certified as a trainer or physical therapist. This will improve your marketability and help you provide safe, effective training services for your clients.
Skills required: Communication, problem-solving, and other soft skills, plus a solid understanding of fitness and physiology.
2. Create a sports apparel brand
Athletes need top-notch apparel—whether sports jerseys, tracksuits, or merchandise to show support for their team.
Take your cue from Eastside Golf founders Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper by launching an apparel brand of your own. They focused on bringing the sport they loved to a new audience—particularly those who weren’t represented on the traditional country club membership rolls.
“We’ve certainly positioned our brand as, you know, kind of removing barriers and allowing everyone to essentially define what golf is to them,” Earl says. “We like to say, ’Whether you’re a miniature golfer, whether you’re a putt-putt golfer, whether you’re competing in the PGA Championship this week, we make apparel for you.’”
But that’s not all. Olajuwon—like Earl, an excellent golfer—connects selling athletic apparel with competing in the game he loves. “I started this brand because I was tired of being told no,” he explains. The thought dawned on him: “Why not take the entrepreneur route and sponsor myself to get back into professional golf?”
Skills required: Creativity, graphic design, and inventory management.
3. Run a retail sports shop
If you have experience testing gear, open a shop selling equipment for popular sports and cater to athletes at all levels who need quality gear and accessories. This could be an online fitness store or brick-and-mortar store where you sell anything from branded sports apparel to specialty equipment.
Take it from Toby’s Sports, the Philippines’ first specialty sports store. It’s a one-stop shop for everything sports related, with more than 100,000 products and 67 retail stores across the country.
But you don’t have to sell anything and everything to start in retail. Consider choosing a niche sport—like Winter Park Cycles’ specialty bike shop did—to establish your brand. You can always extend your product catalog as you gather feedback from customers.
Skills required: Inventory forecasting, local marketing, and customer service.
4. Sell sports nutrition and supplements
The global sports nutrition industry is expected to exceed $138 billion by 2033, leaving plenty of opportunity to make money with this business idea.
Take it from Promix, the sports supplement brand founded by Albert Matheny, a health-conscious entrepreneur. “I’m really passionate specifically about what I’m doing,” Albert told Shopify Masters. “I care about these products, so I’m always paying attention to things, reading things, and being aware of where health trends are going.”
That said, starting a sports nutrition business does have significant upfront costs, including product development and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals.
Skip the hassle by dropshipping supplements instead. Your supplier will handle manufacturing and fulfillment, while you focus on marketing your ecommerce business.
Skills required: Marketing, product development, and nutrition.
5. Market sports brands
If you’re a creative entrepreneur looking to start a service business, consider a sports marketing firm. You’ll specialize in helping sports brands and sports clubs or teams connect with their target audience.
Leverage your skills to design and execute sports marketing campaigns that span:
- Local search
- Paid advertising
- Email marketing
- Video marketing
- Social media marketing
- Influencer partnerships
Skills required: Digital marketing and marketing strategy.
6. Start a sports media company
There’s a lively market for sports commentary. You can tap into it by working at a sports radio station or TV network.
If breaking into those industries seems daunting, consider starting a sports podcast that you record, produce, and distribute yourself. Monetize your media company by supplying brands with sponsored content.
US soccer star Alex Morgan is just one entrepreneur making waves in the sports media industry. She noticed that few media outlets were covering women’s sports, so she co-founded Togethxr to cover the gap.
In an interview with Shopify Masters, Alex said: “If you can grow the audience and community in the space, drive viewership, put people in seats, then brands will show up to invest because they believe it’s worth their [return on investment].”
Skills required: Networking, podcasting, and audio production.
7. Run a sports blog
If you’re more interested in writing than reporting, sports blogging may be your field of choice. As a sports blogger, you can cover sports news, insights, and the latest trends. Attract readers by cross-promoting your content on social media and optimizing your website for search.
If your sports blog attracts a big enough audience, you can become an influencer and generate revenue through ads, sponsorships, and subscriptions.
Skills required: Writing, editing, and search engine optimization (SEO).
8. Develop sports technology
There’s a thirst for innovation in the global sports market. You can make your mark by developing or selling innovative sports technology products, such as:
- Wearable technology, for example, smart watches
- Fitness or performance-tracking devices
- AI-powered apps for training and analytics
Skills required: Web development, coding, and product development.
9. Consult athletes
A sports consultant advises sports organizations, sports clubs, or individual athletes on performance, branding, sponsorships, or business operations. Your sports consulting business can have a local focus, or you can sell your services far and wide over the internet.
Once you form strong relationships with sports coaching clients, you could even branch into sports management. Help athletes secure spots on teams, license their images to other brands, or monetize their social media followings by becoming their manager.
Skills required: Networking, business operations, and communication.
10. Coach sports
If you want to start a wellness business that helps people achieve their goals, consider becoming a sports coach. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, coaches and scouts have an average annual salary of $45,920.
There’s a wide range of people to work with as a sports coach, from professional athletes to children’s teams and clubs. It’ll be your job to improve their sporting abilities through practice sessions, performance analysis, and motivation.
Skills required: Coaching, leadership, and soft skills like patience and active listening.
11. Start a sports medicine business
Physical therapist assistants are projected to be among the fastest-growing occupations from now through 2034. Capitalize on this by starting your own massage or injury prevention clinic.
One potential focus is injury recovery. This type of rehabilitation sports therapy typically requires formal training from a medical school or a certification program.
Entrepreneurs without a medical background can also get involved in the sports therapy business by opening a center and hiring qualified professionals. Those professionals can work on developing training programs while you handle business operations.
Skills required: Medical degree or certification, and business and people management skills.
12. Start a sports gaming venture
If you’re skilled at programming or passionate about gaming, consider investing in e-sports. The industry is growing, with revenue in the e-sports market expected to reach $4.8 billion in 2025.
You could replicate Football Manager or NBA-style games, or create an online gaming and fantasy platform.
The best part? The rise in no-code and AI tools means the barriers to entry are lower than ever. Tools like Ludo.ai or Rosebud AI can help you design characters, test games, and list them on gaming platforms like Steam.
Skills required: Programming, digital marketing, and online community management.
13. Open a sports bar
Open a sports bar or restaurant where fans can gather to watch live games, offering a unique social experience that attracts other sports fans. You could go broad and showcase every type of popular sporting event, or go niche—perhaps a soccer-only bar or a space that celebrates golf.
There are plenty of ways to make money as a sports bar owner:
- Selling food and drink
- Creating your own branded sports merchandise
- Hosting mini sporting events or competitions
Operating a bar requires a liquor license and other business licenses, so consult your municipal government for details.
Skills required: Local marketing, certain licenses, people management, and business operations.
14. Organize sports leagues
Many localities desire sports leagues for youths and adults alike. Consider creating a business that administers local or regional leagues for amateurs to participate in competitive play.
Make money from your sports leagues by:
- Selling tickets
- Charging sports teams for entry
- Inviting brands to sponsor events
There’s plenty of opportunity in this industry, particularly if you’re targeting younger audiences. Per PwC, younger fans are 1.4 times more likely to attend sports events at least once a month and to spend more than older fans.
Skills required: Cash flow management, people management, and community building.
15. Start a sports camp business
Many parents send their children to sports camps on weekends or school holidays to improve their sports skills and make friends. You could run a day camp or a residential program (which requires more organization but has greater income potential).
Plus, you don’t need to be the one physically delivering the sports coaching at camp. Bring in fitness experts or coaches to teach your clients while you handle the planning and marketing.
Skills required: Organization, cash flow management, and communication.
16. Be a sports photographer
If you have an eye for detail and love capturing sports, start your own photography business. Clients could be:
- Professional athletes
- Sports leagues
- Event and competition organizers
- Fitness venues, for example, gyms or leisure centers
- Sports publications
You don’t always need paying clients to make money as a photographer. List your snaps on photo-selling websites like Unsplash, Shutterstock, and Getty Images to get paid when people use or download your images.
Skills required: Creativity, photo editing, and attention to detail.
17. Become a sports journalist
The days of writing for a newspaper sports section or a sports magazine may be dwindling, but there are still jobs for a sports journalist who’s willing to hustle for the latest scoop.
With strong writing and interviewing skills, you can work as a reporter for a sports magazine. You could also branch out into video journalism by creating sports-related videos to publish on social media platforms like Instagram Reels or TikTok.
Journalism is a fun and fast-paced industry, but it’s very competitive. Use a free portfolio website to showcase samples of your work to pitch potential clients.
Skills required: Interviewing, writing, and editing.
18. Rent out sports facilities
Open and rent out sports facilities for training sessions, sports clubs, or community sporting events. To do this, you’ll either need to own real estate, such as a fitness studio, sports hall, or tennis court, or rent from a landlord and operate with a commercial lease.
Skills required: Real estate management, business operations, and financing.
19. Run a yoga studio
Yoga is an immensely popular activity that people use to stay in shape, reduce stress, and recover from injury. The industry is growing, with global revenue projected to reach over $200 billion by 2030.
Launch your own yoga studio with a focus on flexibility, fitness maintenance, and recovery. You could make money by:
- Hosting group classes or personalized one-to-one bookings
- Selling merchandise, for example, yoga socks, mats, or water bottles
- Creating digital products, such as on-demand videos or technique guides
Skills required: Community building and social media marketing.
20. Open a gym
If yoga isn’t your thing, consider operating an all-purpose fitness gym, or catering to a specific activity like pilates, rock climbing, weightlifting, martial arts, combat sports, or dance.
You can also run a sports club for a specific sport such as pickleball or padel. The latter has seen rapid growth, with Playtomic estimating more than $4.6 billion (€4 billion) revenue from 70,000 padel courts globally by 2026.
What’s especially great about running a gym or sports academy is that you can use the subscription business model, where members pay a set amount per month to access your facilities. This predictability makes it easy to forecast cash flow and alleviates the constant pressure to find new customers.
Skills required: Gym marketing, people management, and accounting.
Challenges of starting a sports business
Starting a sports business is a way for a sports enthusiast to work in an industry they are passionate about, regardless of athletic prowess.
However, there are some challenges to consider as you develop your business idea:
- Startup capital. Startup business costs can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands, depending on your idea. If you’re on a budget, consider dropshipping fitness products or starting a sports blog. You can get up and running without a huge investment, starting with a website, custom domain, and theme.
- Competition. Sports are competitive by nature. Businesses in the industry are no different. You’ll need a strong niche and a unique value proposition to stand out in the market. Fitness apparel brand Gymshark, for example, has the value proposition “exist to unite the conditioning community.”
- Audience trust-building. Athletes, parents, and sports clubs need to trust who they’re working with. Build trust by proactively asking for feedback, displaying social proof on your website, and sharing behind-the-scenes of running your business on social media.
- Seasonality. Baseball, surfing, cycling, and football are all seasonal sports. If one of these is your focus, consider adding other products or services in your business plan to spread revenue throughout the year. If you’re coaching children’s football teams in the summer, for example, upsell digital products or workbooks for children to practice at home during the winter.
- Regulatory concerns. Sports can be dangerous. You’ll need health and safety training, business insurance, and the appropriate permits to get up and running, all of which can cost.
- Physical space requirements. You’ll need a physical location if you’re offering a space for play or storing inventory. If you can’t secure one, or you’d rather cut down on fixed expenses, consider a dropshipping, consulting, or marketing sports business.
Sports business ideas FAQ
How is a sports business started?
Start your own sports business by drafting a business plan that includes market research, competitor analysis, your target audience, products and services you’ll sell, and a marketing plan. Pitch your business idea to investors, hire staff, and start small with a scalable model.
How do sports businesses make money?
Sports businesses make money the same way other businesses do: by charging for merchandise or services. Starting a sports news site? Try offering subscription tiers. Selling sports apparel? Charge competitive prices that cover your expenses. Following standard business principles will help you succeed in this industry, though having a passion for sports can help.
What is the best sport for business?
Some of the best sporting businesses lean into activities like golf, tennis, football, soccer, cycling, yoga, and padel. Ultimately, understanding the preferences and gaps in your target market will help determine the most profitable sports business for you.
What are the startup costs for sports businesses?
Startup costs for a sporting business include a website, licenses and permits, insurance, marketing, equipment, and rent (if you need a physical space). Detail these in your sports business plan and consider financing options such as bank loans or personal savings to cover shortfalls.
Is a sports business worth it?
A sports business is worth it if you have a passion for fitness, strong communication skills, and want a business idea with potential to scale. There are plenty of opportunities, from one-to-one sports coaching services to running children’s camps, becoming a sports journalist, or selling fitness equipment.
