Sportswear brands are winning big in Saudi Arabia

Key insights:

• Adidas (47.9%), Nike (43.2%), and Puma (21.8%) now lead Saudi Arabia’s clothing preferences, ahead of luxury and fast-fashion labels.
• Luxury and fast fashion brands lose ground: Gucci, Calvin Klein, and Prada saw notable declines in Current Customer scores, reflecting a shift in spending toward performance and functionality.
• Growth in sportswear is potentially because of Vision 2030’s lifestyle focus, the Saudi Pro League’s global influence, and more women taking part in sports.

Sportswear brands outperforming lifestyle and luxury fashion in Saudi Arabia, reflecting an ongoing shift in consumer priorities toward wellness, comfort, and function under the country’s Vision 2030 lifestyle transformation.

New YouGov data shows that this isn’t just a fashion trend, it’s a lifestyle shift reshaping wardrobes across the KSA. According to Profiles data, Adidas (47.9%) Nike (43.2%) and Puma (21.8%) now lead Saudi Arabia’s clothing preferences, well ahead of luxury labels and fast-fashion brands like Zara and Gucci.

The prominence of sportswear brands aligns with broader lifestyle developments in Saudi Arabia. Vision 2030’s emphasis on health and active living, supported by initiatives like the Sports Boulevard, could have made fitness and everyday movement more visible. The Saudi Pro League’s growing international profile, since global players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar signing up to play for Saudi football clubs, may have also strengthened the presence of sportswear in The KSA.

To understand how these preferences translate into actual purchasing behaviour, YouGov BrandIndex tracking shows how Current Customer score of each brand varies from January 1 to October 12, 2025.

Adidas recorded the steepest increase in current customers, along with a surge from 40.2% April 23 to 60.2% by October 8, 2025, a 20 percent point gain in less than 6 months. Nike’s score, meanwhile, moved from 34.7% to 35.7%, remaining largely stable over the same period. Nike also brought about “What If You Can” campaign — launched in mid-2024 to highlight women’s participation in sports, directed by Haifaa Al Mansour and designed to inspire young women to participate in sport.

Between January and October 2025, Puma’s Current Customer score rose from 23.8% to 29.6%. Puma maintained strong visibility through its global ‘Go Wild’ campaign, the brand’s largest media investment to date, supported by regional activations tied to its Speedcat relaunch. Under Armour doubled its current customer score; from 7% in January to 14% by October 2025, supported by its global “We Are Football” campaign and a renewed focus on performance-led marketing.

In September 2025, all major sportswear - Adidas, Nike, Puma, and Under armour, saw an uptick in Current Customer score, coinciding with the kick-off of the Saudi Pro League season in August 28, 2025.

In contrast, among fashion/luxury brands, Gucci’s score fell from 17.6% to 10.3%, and Calvin Klein dropped from 16.3 to 11.5. Prada recorded the steepest fall, down from 8.5 to 2.6, meanwhile fast fashion retailer H&M’s score declined from 10.6 to 7.1, as attention and spending leaned toward sport-linked apparel.

Saudi Arabia’s sportswear market continues to expand in line with the Kingdom’s broader investment in sports. The sports sector is projected to grow from $8 billion to $22.4 billion by 2030, driven by large-scale infrastructure and event development. Plans for 15 new stadiums, including 11 new builds and 4 renovations ahead of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, reflect the scale of this growning trend.

Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data through rolling surveys, rather than a single limited questionnaire. Figures are drawn from responses collected between October 2024 and October 2025, using a 52-week dataset updated weekly. Data for Saudi Arabia is nationally representative and weighted by age and gender.

YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Brands’ current customer score is based on the question: What clothing, sports or fashion brand do you tend to buy? Please select all that applies. Scores are reported as percentages, based on daily nationally representative surveys of Saudi adults, weighted to census targets. Figures are shown as a 4-week moving average with sample size ranging from 419 to 842 between 1st January to 12th October 2025.