Growth in the counterfeit sportswear market shows little sign of slowing as global interest in sports, fitness and streetwear continues to rise, according to “Fast track: premium priced performance apparel is a magnet for counterfeiters”, a seven-page report from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence.
Demand for branded sportswear has been fuelled by the widespread popularity of celebrity athletes, fitness influencers, and sports teams, creating fertile ground for the counterfeit market to thrive.
Also contributing to this thriving market are the premium prices of branded sportswear. In the case of replica football shirts, for example, the average selling price of legitimate shirts sold in the UK was as much as £76.50 in 2024 compared with only £11 in the case of counterfeit shirts.
Furthermore, the purchase of counterfeit sportswear has become much easier in recent years. In the past, counterfeit sportswear was typically distributed though pop-up vendors, traditional street markets and unregulated storefronts but today it is being sold increasingly via e-commerce platforms, social media and resale apps.
Online marketplaces have become major platforms for counterfeit goods, and counterfeit sports apparel is being offered on a large scale on social media and social commerce platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, Instagram, TikTok Shop, and WhatsApp, where they offer convenience and heavily discounted prices.
The rise of resale platforms has added complexity to the fight against counterfeit sports apparel. Marketplaces such as Depop, Grailed and StockX cater to a younger, trend-driven audience but they are susceptible to fake listings.
Many genuine platforms now employ authentication teams and offer buyer protection. But counterfeit items still slip through, especially when sold by individual users in peer-to-peer transactions.
In response to the growing challenges of counterfeit sportswear, major sports brands have adopted a range of anti-counterfeiting strategies, including: blockchain-based product tracking systems; digital authentication tags; invisible inks; and smart QR codes. For example, the world’s two leading sportswear companies, adidas, based in Germany, and Nike, based in the USA, have developed systems which allow customers to verify the authenticity of products via apps or customer service channels.
Also starting to play a role in the detection of counterfeit garments are artificial intelligence (AI) powered image recognition and machine learning tools on online marketplaces and through mobile authentication platforms.
Nevertheless, counterfeiters will remain a step ahead of existing safeguards, given that enforcement is inconsistent, digital marketplaces are easily accessible, and replication techniques are constantly improving and becoming increasingly sophisticated. To curb these problems effectively, collaboration between brands, regulators, online platforms and consumers is essential.
