In January 2017, we reported that Walmart led the field of U.S. sporting goods retailers in 2015. The giant had revenues from sporting goods sales alone of nearly $10 billion. While Dick's Sporting Goods and Academy Sports + Outdoors enjoyed second and third place in total sporting goods sales.

Fast forward to 2017, and Walmart has retained its position at the top of American retailers based on U.S. retail sales of nearly $375 billion for the year.

Stores.org dove deeper into the retail world to compile its list of “Power Players,” based on 2017 revenues.

Dick's Sporting Goods was the top leisure power player in 2017, according to research from Kantar Consulting.

The Coraopolis, Pennsylvania-based retailer had worldwide retail sales of $8.6 billion in 2017, making it the 56th largest retailer out of the Top 100.

Dick's enjoyed 8.4% sales growth in the United States, from 2016 to 2017, and 6% overall growth during that same time period. With 845 stores in the U.S., the average sales per store was approximately $10.2 million in 2017.

Bass Pro Shops wasn't far behind, with 2017 retail sales of some $7.34 billion that put it at #2 among leisure retailers and 62nd among all retailers.

As Stores.org notes, “Leisure retailers as a Power Player group are divided into two groups: Those that sell sporting goods and gear for outdoor activities and those that don’t.”

So retailers such as GameStop, Michaels Stores, Barnes & Noble and Guitar Center are also included in the list of top leisure retailers.

Other sporting goods power players for 2017 include:

• Academy Sports + Outdoors, with $5.77 billion in 2017 retail sales across 243 stores
• Recreational Equipment Inc (REI), with $1.96 billion in 2017 retail sales across 151 stores
• Big 5 Sporting Goods, with $1.03 billion in 2017 retail sales across 432 stores
• Hibbett Sports, with $9.22 million in 2017 retail sales across 1,093 stores
• Modell's Sporting Goods, with $8.65 million in 2017 retail sales across 163 stores

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