SBADecoded
Home / Industries / Sporting Goods Stores

Industry · SBA lending record

SBA loans for sporting goods stores

4,990 SBA 7(a) loans since 2010. What they were for, how big, how long, and how often they went wrong.

Loans made
4,990
2010 onward
Typical loan
$88k
median approved
Typical term
7 yr
7.9%
all industries 5.7%

How this industry compares

defaulted within 7 years
Sporting Goods Stores
7.9%
Typical industry
5.3%
All industries
5.7%

Default rate is not a judgement on the industry. It tells you how a lender will price your risk, and how much cushion you should build in.

When borrowers got into trouble

share of failures by year
Year 1
0%
Year 2
8%
Year 3
15%
Year 4
20%
Year 5
15%
Year 6+
41%

Trouble rarely arrives in year one. It arrives when the opening cash is gone — which is an argument for borrowing more working capital, not less.

What this means for your application

A typical loan here runs $88k over 7 years. If you are asking for far more than that, expect harder questions and a longer file. If far less, check which lenders will even take it — many won't go below $150,000.

Find lenders by smallest loan → Check the numbers work →

Source SBA 7(a) FOIA, NAICS 451 Released 2026-06-30 Loans 4,990

SBA 504 lending in Sporting Goods Stores

504 FOIA record

Where a 7(a) loan covers working capital and general use, the 504 program funds the owner-occupied property and heavy equipment side — a bank first mortgage plus a fixed-rate second through a Certified Development Company. Here is the 504 record for sporting goods stores.

504 loans since 2010
572
$342.9M in SBA seconds
Median project
$837k
bank first + 504 second
Default rate
3.6%
all 504 5.0%

CDCs funding sporting goods stores most

Most 504 loans for sporting goods stores are in California, Florida, Utah, Colorado.

Match with a CDC → How 504 works →

Related industries