FILLING THEIR SHOES

Dick’s Sporting Goods Acquires Rival After Trump Tariffs Rattle Footwear Business

After a rough year for both companies, Dick’s is acquiring Foot Locker in hopes of cornering the market on Nike products.

Two longtime rivals in the sneaker market are teaming up. On Thursday, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced it would acquire Foot Locker for $2.4 billion. The news comes after both companies began 2025 in rough waters. Though Dick’s generated a record $3.9 billion in the first quarter of 2025, its investors expressed anxieties that Trump’s tariffs would kneecap the footwear economy. In March, shares in Dick’s declined more than 18 percent over a month-long period after its sales predictions for 2025 and 2026 showed minimal growth. Foot Locker’s year has been much worse. Despite efforts to reclaim its onetime sneaker culture dominance through branding, the company’s stocks dropped 41 percent this year after Trump’s tariffs sent consumer confidence plummeting. By merging, Dick’s and Foot Locker may also be mounting a Hail Mary to corner the market on one of both companies’ best-selling commodities: Nike footwear. The companies—two of Nike’s three retail partners, alongside JD Sports—seem to be waging war against the footwear giant’s strategy of reducing its business with retailers in favor of selling directly to consumers through its own website and brick-and-mortar stores. While Foot Locker’s sales continue to drop, experts say Dick’s hopes acquiring the retail chain will help it expand internationally, dominating the “sneaker head” market.