On the record · Other
Sports Authority
LBO loaded massive debt preventing e-commerce investment. All 463 stores liquidated in 2016. 14,000 jobs lost.
Also known as The Sports Authority
Research depth
Outcomes researched
Reviewed operating findings or a classified operating outcome are available.
Record updated Sept. 4, 2026
Current ownership
Current owner not established
This record does not identify a current owner. That absence is a gap in the record, not a conclusion about ownership.
1 ownership record has an unresolved current/former status.
Ownership and transaction history
Chronology from recorded ownership periods, transactions and reviewed outcome events. Event order does not imply causation.
May 25, 2016
Operations ceased
Operating outcome
Date not recorded
What happened under and after ownership
Operating outcome
No longer meaningfully operating
Converted its Chapter 11 case to Chapter 7 liquidation in May 2016 after no going-concern buyer emerged; going-out-of-business sales began at all 463 stores on May 25, 2016.
Dick's Sporting Goods holds the name and customer data, bought in 2016 to retire the brand; no Sports Authority store or website has operated since.
- Founded
- 1928
- Peak headcount
- 15,250
- Sponsor at closure
- Leonard Green & Partners
- Cause
- Debt left at exit
- Retail Dive · Chapter 7 conversion, liquidation sale start date, store count
- Fortune · 2016 · Dick's bought the name to eliminate it as a competitor, not to reopen it
- Wikipedia · origins in 1928 as Gart Brothers; peak of 15,250 employees and 463 stores
- Host Merchant Services · Leonard Green & Partners' 2006 leveraged buyout saddled Sports Authority with debt that had grown to roughly $1.1 billion by the 2016 bankruptcy filing
What we do not know
These are gaps in the public record, not findings about the organization.
- No current public ownership assessment has been published.
Help improve this record
Firsthand experience, public sources and corrections can help close the gaps above.