| Sporting goods can help you pursue your | | | | increase the industry has achieved since |
| passion for any kind of sport. Whether you | | | | 1997. The country imported even more sporting |
| love extreme sports like cliffhanging and | | | | goods in 2005. |
| racing; or outdoor sports like mountain | | | | |
| climbing, wall climbing, or hiking; or even | | | | Shipments of sports apparel rose to about $24 |
| regular sports such as basketball, the | | | | billion. Shipments of athletic footwear went |
| breakthrough technology of sporting goods can | | | | up almost three percent to almost $10 |
| make your game better and more importantly, | | | | billion. The demand for fitness equipment |
| safer. | | | | also increased by about four percent to |
| | | | almost $4 billion - and about 80 percent of |
| Development of Sporting Goods | | | | this growth represents home equipment |
| | | | exercise. Golf equipment sales also rose to |
| Factory sales of sporting goods have been | | | | $2.5 billion (or by about three percent). The |
| growing steadily since the early 1990s, | | | | same is true for hiking and camping equipment |
| according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers | | | | shipping, which increased by three percent to |
| Association. Economists attribute this to the | | | | almost $2 billion. |
| fact that this industry is better positioned | | | | |
| than others to withstand economic recessions. | | | | Future of Sporting Goods |
| People are becoming more and more health | | | | |
| conscious, and they tend to spend a bigger | | | | Manufacturers of sporting goods are |
| portion of their incomes on sports | | | | continuously trying to outdo each other |
| activities. | | | | through advanced technology. High-tech |
| | | | sporting goods now employ nanotechnology, but |
| In fact, the United States importation of | | | | there are still concerns about the safety of |
| sporting goods rose four percent in 2004, to | | | | nanoparticles. |
| $52.1 billion - the largest percentage | | | | |