Dick’s Sporting Goods will expand the number of its House of Sport and Field House locations over the next two years, with their success contributing to another strong quarter for the company.
“House of Sport continues to be an incredibly impactful part of our long-term strategy,” said CEO Lauren Hobart on Dick’s Tuesday morning earnings call. House of Sport stores are experiential locations with amenities such as climbing walls and batting cages.
The number of House of Sport stores grew from 12 to 20 over the course of the year, largely by converting current locations, said CFO Navdeep Gupta. Neither Gupta nor Hobart discussed the future of outdoor-focused Public Lands stores, five of which The Daily reported will be converted. Dick’s will open another 15 House of Sport locations in 2025, and the total number will grow to between 75 and 100 locations by 2027.
The Field House concept, which is a smaller version of House of Sport within existing Dick’s stores, will also expand. Dick’s opened five Field House locations in the third quarter and four already this quarter, bringing the total to 26. Dick’s will open another 20 in 2025, Bobart said.
Comparable sales grew by 4.2% to $3.06 billion in the quarter ended Nov. 2, and the company’s net income increased by 13% to $228 million. Dick’s again raised its full-year outlook, anticipating net sales of between $13.2 billion and $13.3 billion, or growth of between 3.6% to 4.2%.
Hobart attributed the results to the company’s strategy to focus on athlete experience (Dick’s refers to its customers as athletes), differentiated product assortment, deep brand engagement, and its knowledgeable and passionate workforce. The recent election did not have any material impact on its results, Hobart said.
“We had a really strong back-to-school season,” Hobart said. “We had great growth in footwear, apparel, team sports. It was warmer than we might have liked in the last part of the quarter, but it didn’t have a material impact on our comps, and we’re being very excited about Q4.”
Concept Store Success
The success of House of Sport and Field House concept stores isn’t just about climbing walls and large-scale experiences, Hobart said – although that helps.
“The experience is delighting athletes,” Hobart said. “We’re seeing athletes drive longer distances. They’re spending more time when they come. The community is just absolutely embracing House of Sport.”
Vendors like them too because they have more potential to bring a brand to life, with opportunities such as the “Collab” approach that looks like small brand stores within the large House of Sport concept, Hobart said.
Landlords and mall operators have shared in the traffic increases to shopping centers when a specialty location opens, which is helping neighboring businesses and giving Dick’s an advantage when securing long-term real estate opportunities. Dick’s has also invested in improving store service by growing the knowledge of its store staff, and fine-tuning and differentiating its product assortment.
“It’s also translating through our entire organization,” Hobart said. “Things like the elevated service, elevating product, you’re going to see that as we reposition our entire portfolio. House of Sport has a longer impact than you might think, just looking at the House of Sport stores.”
Sport Influencing Culture
Technology is also driving efficiency and engagement at Dick’s, Hobart said. It expanded its product launch reservations in the Dick’s app beyond footwear to include product drops across more categories. It’s expanding its use of RFID technology to help its workforce locate products more quickly.
More users are logging onto Dick’s sports streaming app Game Changer, too. More than 5.5 million unique users used Game Changer in the third quarter, a 21% increase from last year.
The leadership team at Dick’s said the future is bright, with sport continuing to have a massive impact on mainstream culture in the coming years.
“The country is really having what we’re calling a sport moment,” Hobart said, citing the rise of women’s basketball, the expanded NCAA playoffs for football this year, the World Cup games slated for 2026 in the U.S. and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“We really expect that sports are going to continue to have an outsized influence on culture, and culture on sport,” Hobart said. “And I really think Dick’s is in such a great lane to just ride those trends in that we are rooted in sport.”
Kate Robertson can be reached at [email protected].
