Home ›› 16 Nov 2021 ›› Front
Sports accessories business witnessed around 25 per cent annual growth although sports enthusiasts have little access to such recreational activities due to shrinking playgrounds in most urban settings.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and Power and Participation Research Centre, only two per cent of children have access to playgrounds.
An enormous lack of playing fields in Dhaka and most urban areas have had a tremendous effect on children, who are gradually turning to digital devices more and more.
The impact of such activities will be devastating in the long run.
Owing to negligence of the authorities concerned, playgrounds and parks over the years have become extinct in Dhaka leaving no space for children to play, a prerequisite for building a healthy nation.
Yet, thousands of children and adult population turn to roads, parking areas and indoors as alternatives to playgrounds or open spaces for their sports as well as amusement.
And consequently, sports product market has been witnessing an upward trajectory over the last several years.
The increasing media coverage of various national and international sports events such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ICC World Cup and FIFA World Cup are also adding fuel to such business as the young generation is encouraged to purchase various sports products and accessories.
Besides, the rising trend among the youth to choose any games as their future career along with the rise of sports training centres appears to be the key factors to spur the sports accessories market in Bangladesh.
Apart from this, educational institutions are also supporting and widening their sport activities and also increasing their budget accordingly to purchase their sports accessories for their respective students.
A great many sports products are also highly demanded in village areas, thanks to the better access to the playground for the rural children while the city dwellers are diverting themselves into indoor games due to absence of playgrounds, which also ultimately helps the market to maintain a steady growth.
A Shariatpur college student Md Saiful Islam said: “Though many playgrounds are occupied even in our village, all sorts of sports activities could not be stopped here as yet.”
“Area-based sports clubs are now available in each locality, and we have also established a village sporting club that hosts football and cricket matches requiring a wide-range of sports items including jersey, football, tennis ball and cricket bats,” he added.
According to the data of Bangladesh Sports Goods Merchants Manufactures and Importers Association, the current market size of sports products is around Tk 3,000 crore with an annual growth rate of 20-25 per cent.
The BSGMMIA data also showed that annually 2,000 containers of sports products are now being imported in the country by around 100 importers.
Compared to the cities, sports products are now in great demand in villages as there are still plenty of scopes for sport activities with the available playgrounds or open spaces.
“Though such business incurred an estimated loss worth Tk 2,000 crore due to the pandemic, it ultimately paved the way for the increased demand for indoor games products along with fitness products,” said Shamim.
If the government continues to inspire the country’s sports business, drug use will be drastically declined, he suggested.
Apart from local manufacturers and retailers, foreign retailers are also keen to open their sports shops in Bangladesh to explore business opportunities.
Meanwhile, French sporting goods retailer Decathlon opened its first outlet in Dhaka’s Uttara in 2019, targeting Bangladesh’s growing market of fitness equipment business.
Items for football, cricket, basketball, swimming, cycling, trekking, hiking and walking alongside sports textiles, backpacks, tents and other accessories and fitness products are available in the new store.
The company will source products for the Dhaka store mainly from its warehouse in India and provide after-sales service and accept returns.
The French family-owned company opened the store on July 12, 2019.
With annual revenue of over €12 billion, Decathlon has 1,500 stores in 54 countries, including almost all major economies. In South Asia, it has 70 stores in India and one big store in Sri Lanka.
Locally made sporting products in great demand
The contribution of local manufacturers is gradually increasing in this potential sector. Currently, around 40 per cent domestic demand is met by the home-grown products while the rest are imported from China, Pakistan and India.
Bangladesh was heavily dependent on the global market to meet local consumption even just a decade ago.
According to the BSGMMIA data, nearly 700-800 sports items are consumed in the local market while manufacturers can produce only 200 items including bat, ball, gloves, sports bags, helmets, caroms, anklets, knee caps, socks, and nets locally.
“Currently, all boxing-related products are locally made for which we had to depend on import and now we are also planning to manufacture football for our local market,” said Mohammad Habibur Rahman, general secretary of BSGMMIA.
Indoor sporting products in vogue amid rapid urbanisation
In the wake of fast shrinking playgrounds or even open spaces amidst the rapid urbanisation in cities, most urban people have also moved to indoor games, thus boosting demand for indoor sports accessories.
The Bangladesh Institute of Planners data reveals that at least 2,000 parks and 4,000 open fields are required for the nearly two and a half crore denizens under two city corporations.
But there are only 235 playgrounds while 141 are institutional grounds and only 42 are open to public.
Mainly due to lack of playgrounds, the city dwellers are gradually focusing on the indoor games such as carom, table tennis, ludo, badminton, basketball and long tennis.
A banker Wazed Hossain, who has bought a carom board from Gulistan, said, “I am now focusing on indoor games including table Tennis, ludo and carom since all other options are very much limited for us.”
“When I was a child, I used to play football, cricket and hadudu but it has turned impossible for the city dwellers due to lack of open space as the playgrounds are gradually declining,” added Wazed who lives in the city’s Lalbagh area.
“Currently, I love to play table tennis, carom and ludo with my children at home just to keep refreshed and healthy in the hectic city life.”
Abdul Kabir, manager of Sports Master at Gulistan, said, “The demand for indoor sports products is gradually increasing and also getting popular among the city dwellers.”
Now, carom board is one of the best sales products while table tennis and basketball are becoming popular among the rich, he explained.
Football accessories most demanded
The demand for football and related accessories such as boots, socks and anklets are in great demand across the country round the year.
According to the Bangladesh Sports Goods Merchants Manufactures and Importers Association, the country consumes 50 lakh footballs and 2 lakh cricket bats annually.
Football-related accessories are the best seller items in the market compared to any other products, said MR Shamim, president of BSGMMIA.
“Though cricket is much-talked about sport in Bangladesh, still we can sell a huge amount of football-related items like jersey, socks, footwear and anklet,” he added.
In this regard, Mahedi Hasan, head of Sales and Account of Shan Sport at Gulistan, explained that it took less time to learn and play football than any other games.
As people are so busy with their jobs, they hardly find time for playing sports while football is the best medium for sporting activities, and that’s why sport products relating to football are always in high demand, he added.
Challenges and demand of businesses
The fast-disappearing playgrounds along with lack of policy support for local manufacturers are major challenges to the potential sector.
Currently, local manufactures are doing well compared to imported sports items.
Still they cannot excel in business performance as per their expectation due to lack of policy support. This sector could grow much further only if the government would encourage local manufacturers, said BSGMMIA secretary Mohammad Habibur Rahman.
Some businessmen also alleged that they are suffering as some foreign products are smuggled into local market from nearby countries.
“We have to pay a heavy duty for the import of any goods while some unscrupulous businessmen are bringing products illegally dodging duty,” said BSGMMIA president MR Shamim.
“The products which are coming into the country illegally sell at less price and we cannot keep pace with those goods,” he added.
