SWOT Analysis: 
Below is a comprehensive SWOT analysis of Dick’s Sporting Goods. Please find my analysis and three strategic insights below. 


Strengths 
Storefront Industry Leader: As many companies in the sporting goods industry have been slowly closing their door, such as Big 5 (Kline, 2026) and some have been forced to close their doors for good after failing to secure a buyer, such as Sports Authority (Griffin, 2016), Dick’s continues to serve as a successful store front retail market leader after acquiring Foot Locker for $2.4 billion (Danzinger, 2025), leaving the company as the leader within the retail sporting goods market. 

Strong Upward Growth Trend: Since June 2022, Dicks Sporting Goods has seen a steady increase in market share with minimal fluctuation. On June 12th, 2022, Dick’s stock price recorded an all time low and closed at $73.83 (Yahoo, n.d.) and on March 2nd, 2026 closed at $204.04 (Yahoo, n.d.), a 176.36% increase over the past three plus years. 

Global Presence: Dicks Sporting Goods has a presence across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, plus a licensed store presence in Europe, the Middle East and Asia (“About Us”,  n.d.), allowing the company to build global brand awareness beyond the United States market.

Positive Impact Strategy: Dick’s knows “the important role we must play in taking care of our planet and its people” (“Our Impact”, n.d.) and does that through the use of “Preferred Fibers” (“Our Impact”, n.d.), “Recycled Content” (“Our Impact”, n.d.), “Leather Working Group Certified” (“Our Impact”, n.d.), and more, proving more planet-friendly options to consumers and showing the public that they care about protecting the environment as much as they can. 



Weaknesses 
Lack of Brand Recognition from Younger Generations: Today, many kids get their sporting equipment from online outlets, such as Amazon, and do not tend to go into stores to buy sporting equipment. Because of this, younger generations may have forgotten about their local Dick’s due to the convenience of ordering products online. 

Lack of “Gen Z Attention Grabbing” Social Media Presence: Dick’s does not have engaging social media content that leans into various Gen Z trends. Aside from posting celebrities in certain posts, Dick’s tends to take more of a traditional approach to social media posts across platforms rather than lean into viral social trends to better grab the attention of Gen Z. This has the potential to affect how they are perceived by Gen Z which can hurt the company’s growth within this market.

Inconsistent Social Media Engagement: With 493k followers on TikTok, some videos with certain celebrities have views in the millions, while others have barely reached the 5k viewer mark, indicating a lack of reach to potential new viewers as well as a lack of repeated engagement from active followers.  This hurts the company’s ability to reach out to new audiences as the algorithm may not push out their content due to the low engagement rate. 



Opportunities  
Tap into The Gen Z “Wellness” Trend: “The wellness market has experienced a profound shift, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials, who have transitioned wellness from an occasional activity to a daily, holistic ritual. These younger generations are integrating sleep, fitness, nutrition, and mental health into their everyday routines, setting a new standard that is now being adopted across all demographics” (Yahoo, 2026). Dick’s has a unique opportunity to appeal to Gen Z and become one of the leading suppliers of “wellness-focussed” products, such as stylish sneakers and other fitness related products due to their new acquisition of Foot Locker.  

Gain Cultural Relevance: Dick’s has the opportunity to utilize their new studio, Cookie Jar & A Dream Studio to create new social media and content creation strategies as a way to become more relevant within the minds of Gen Z and the media.

Grow as a Predominant Name in the Footwear Market: As we continue to see sports and shoe retailers vanish, Dick’s has the unique opportunity to start growing their brand presence in the footwear market with their recent acquisition of Foot Locker (Danzinger, 2025). 

Support Local Communities: Give back to local communities by continuing to support Dick’s two main initiatives: the Sports Matter Program and the Public Land Fund. This would provide more opportunities to have a physical presence in various communities and get others involved in “improving existing lands” (“Dick’s Sporting”, n.d.) and “break down barriers of access to the outdoors” (“Dick’s Sporting”, n.d.), further aligning with Gen Z’s core values: “Sixty three percent of Gen Z say they will only buy brands which stand with them on issues, compared to 48 percent of the general population” (Edelman, 2021). 

Expand Online Share: As stated in Forbes, “Over half of US Gen Z prefer to shop online than in store, and the vast majority (96%) make purchases online at least once a month” (Avidor, 2025), which is in line with Dick’s November 2025 investor presentation stating, “While we’ve seen strong eCommerce growth, we see an opportunity to significantly expand our online share” (Gilch, 2025), allowing Dick’s to further utilize their existing online storefront to appeal to Gen Z as a potential purchasing option. 



Threats 
Gen Z Purchasing Trends: According to PWC, “Gen Z cut overall spending by 13% between January and April 2025 — particularly in categories like apparel, accessories and electronics” (“The Gen Z”, 2025), which could result in a decrease in overall sales due to Gen Z prioritizing spending less within these market categories. 

Online Retail Competition: With the popularity of free shipping websites, such as Amazon, this might cause consumers to not consider purchasing products from Dick’s if a shipping cost is involved. 

Emerging Trend: Second-Hand Shopping: “64% of Gen Z search for an item secondhand before buying it new” (“Thrifting”, 2026), further harming Dick’s chances of grabbing Gen Z’s attention as a retailer to frequently shop at. 



Strategic Insights: 
Create A New Social Media Strategy: In order to capture the attention of Gen Z, Dick’s must lean into social media trends, partner with socially relevant content creators, and have a consistent posting schedule that will allow their content to potentially stay at the forefront of the content Gen Z and other younger generations are consuming. This not only targets Gen Z but also younger generations (Gen Alpha) who consume content and get their primary source of information from various social platforms. 

Success Metrics: 25% increase in engagement and a 20% increase in followers on TikTok and Instagram within the first 6 months of utilizing the new social media strategy and posting schedule appealing to both photography and videography formats. 

Dick’s x (Culturally Relevant Shoe Retailer) Limited-Edition Shoe Collaboration: As sneaker collaborations continue to increase in popularity, Dick’s has the opportunity to utilize connections from their recent acquisition (Foot Locker) and collaborate on a limited-edition “Dick’s x (add name here)” shoe as a way to grow as a recognizable and competitive name within the footwear industry, garnering the interest and respect of Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Potential partner example: Adidas.

Success Metrics: See a 30% increase in website activity related to the limited-edition shoe drop within the first 2 weeks pre-shoe release and 1-weeks post shoe release. See a shift towards positive brand perception in both demographics within 6 months of the shoe collaboration announcement. 

Create a New Product Market Online and In-Store: “Pre-Loved”: By creating a “pre-loved” section for retailers to shop, this would appeal to Gen Z’s affinity towards shopping secondhand, resulting in broader brand awareness and the potential to gain new shoppers in-store and online. 

Success Metrics: 25% increase in click rate to Dick’s “pre-loved” section online within the first 3 months and 10% increase in overall purchase rate within the first 3 months.