Wednesday’s slate of wide-reaching tariffs hit equity markets hard Thursday. Sports stocks were along for the ride, with most of the pain being felt by sportswear manufacturers reliant on overseas supply chains.
For many public sports companies, the past day only continues a downtrend since Donald Trump took office in January. In fact, sportswear stocks -- including Nike, Lululemon and Under Armour -- have fallen by an average 28.5% since Trump’s inauguration. The S&P 500 declined by 10.6% in that time.
Other sports-related sectors have proven more resilient, with publicly traded media companies, leagues and teams collectively outperforming the broader market under Trump.
No public sports-related company has shed more value since Trump’s inauguration than ticketing marketplace Vivid Seats, which at $2.77 per share is down more than 40%. That could highlight a worrying trend if diminished consumer spending -- expected to slow even further, according to Deloitte -- results in fewer attendees for games and other live events.
A small handful of sports stocks have managed to avoid the red ink. Shares of Take-Two Interactive, which publishes 2K Sports video games, closed at just shy of $209 today, up 13% since Trump’s inauguration. Other sports-related stocks that have gained under Trump include Netflix (up 5.5%), TKO Group Holdings (4.4%), Sportradar (4.0%) and the Braves (3.2%).
SBJ’s Bret McCormick reports on how the larger sports industry is bracing for the tariffs that kick in April 9 -- and the uncertainty that comes with them.
