Sport'81

What Sport'81 does

Sport'81 B.V. is a Dutch specialty retailer founded in 1981 and headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, operating as a total supplier of sports and play materials for the Dutch and Belgian markets. The company sells a deep catalog organized across 50+ sports categories (running from American Football to Yoga) plus structured verticals including Education, Childcare, Recreation, Facility Equipment, Training, and Health, with both individual products and bundled packages. Its primary customer base consists of schools (primary, secondary, and higher education), municipalities, sports clubs, physiotherapists, holiday parks, trainers, and sports-oriented childcare facilities, alongside direct consumer purchases.

The business operates as a hybrid direct-to-consumer model: a Magento-based e-commerce storefront at sport81.nl handles online sales, quote requests, and B2B account ordering, while a physical showroom in Rotterdam's Spaanse Polder industrial area allows customers to test and take products immediately. The company maintains a warehouse for direct shipping across the Netherlands and Belgium, and offers personal consultation via phone, email, and WhatsApp. There is no proprietary technology — the platform is a standard retail e-commerce site with no disclosed API, SDK, or developer integrations.

Revenue is generated entirely through one-time product sales priced in EUR (ranging from ~€1.70 for sidewalk chalk to over €1,300 for a Skelter TWIN), with B2B customers able to order on account and pay invoices later. The company is privately held, has no disclosed funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and operates with 11–50 employees. Its distribution is regional (Benelux), and it carries multiple branded product lines (JOOLA, Molten, TOGU, RAXX, etc.) sourced from third-party manufacturers — Sport'81 is a distributor/retailer, not a product manufacturer.

Name

Sport'81

Legal name

Sport '81 B.V.

Website

https://sport81.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sport'81 is a Dutch B2B/B2C retailer founded in 1981, supplying a comprehensive catalog of sports and play equipment across 50+ sports to schools, municipalities, sports clubs, physiotherapists, and childcare facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium via e-commerce and a Rotterdam showroom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Equipment Retail

NAICS

Sporting Goods Retailers (45911), Sporting Goods, Hobby, and Musical Instrument Retailers (4591)

SIC

Sporting & Athletic Goods, Nec (3949), Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)

akta.pro primary industry

Team Sports Equipment & Uniforms Retail (CRAMABAE)

Keywords

• Sports equipment retail
• Physical education supplies
• Playground equipment
• Sports facility equipment
• Recreational sports products

Headquarters

HQ city

Rotterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Sport'81 generates revenue through the sale of sports and play equipment directly to consumers and businesses. They sell individual products as well as packages and bundles. B2B customers can order on account and pay invoices later.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sport'81 is a Dutch retailer (founded 1981) that supplies sports, play, education, recreation, training, and facility equipment through its e-commerce platform sport81.nl and a physical showroom in Rotterdam. The catalog covers more than 50 sports — ranging from American Football, basketball, volleyball, hockey, korfball and tennis to pickleball, padel, yoga, fitness, trampolining, scouting/outdoor, and swimming — alongside balls, teacher supplies, play materials, facility fittings, and rehabilitation products. Customers include schools (primary, secondary, higher education), municipalities, sports clubs, physiotherapists, holiday parks, trainers, and sports-oriented childcare facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Product overview

Sport'81 is a Dutch e-commerce retailer and physical showroom (established 1981) offering sports and play materials across Netherlands and Belgium. The company operates as a single unified e-commerce platform (sport81.nl) with a physical showroom in Rotterdam, serving schools (primary, secondary, higher education), municipalities, sports clubs, physiotherapists, holiday parks, trainers, and childcare facilities. The product portfolio includes a comprehensive catalog organized into main categories: Sporten A-Z (50+ sports), Balls, Education (physical education materials), Childcare, Recreation, Facility Equipment, Training, and Health products. The company carries multiple branded product lines including JOOLA (pickleball, table tennis), RAXX, Molten, TOGU, and many others. The business model is B2B and B2C e-commerce with personal consultation available via phone, email, and WhatsApp.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sport'81 E-commerce Platform (sport81.nl) Online storefront selling the full Sport'81 catalog — sports, play, education, recreation, training, and health equipment — with shopping cart, account management, quote requests, and order history, serving consumers and businesses across Netherlands and Belgium.
• Sporten A-Z Catalog (50+ Sports) Comprehensive catalog of sports equipment covering 50+ sports from American Football to Yoga, including disciplines such as badminton, basketball, hockey, korfball, pickleball, padel, tennis, volleyball, fitness, gymnastics, martial arts, swimming, and many more.
• Balls Assortment Extensive ball assortment including sport balls (basketball, football, volleyball, tennis, hockey, korfball, rugby, golf, handball, beach volleyball, floorball, American football), play balls (trefbal, foam, inflatable, playground, special, skippy), ball packages, and ball accessories (bags, nets, pumps, needles, carts).
• Educatie (Physical Education Materials) Educational materials for physical education including play balls, learning pathways (throwing & catching, jumping, aiming, cooperation, balancing, circus & juggling, riding, swinging, music & movement), organizing materials (marking materials, cones, hoops, sticks, ribbons, bean bags, jump ropes), teacher supplies (ear protection, stopwatches, whistles, water bottles, first aid), sport packages, motor skill training (MRT), Beweeg Wijs program, school camp materials, and Koningsspelen materials.
• Kinderopvang (Childcare & Play Materials) Childcare and play materials for indoor and outdoor use including rolling and riding toys, play tables (table tennis, football tables, air hockey, pool & billiards), building toys, board games & puzzles, house and doll corners, aiming games, sand and water play, sports packages, climbing & swinging, and outdoor equipment.
• Recreatie (Recreation Equipment) Recreation and leisure equipment including play materials, riding toys (go-karts/skelters, steps, balance bikes, tricycles, skateboards, inline skates, protective gear), games (board, educational, active, wooden, classic, shuffleboard, folk games), outdoor playground equipment, circus equipment (juggling, diabolos, Chinese plates, devil sticks, unicycles), game tables, and recreation packages.
• Inrichting (Facility & Gym Hall Equipment) Facility and sports hall equipment including storage solutions (bins, crates, ball nets, carts, baskets, bags, cabinets), gym hall equipment (AirTrack, apparatus, mats, carts, floor protection), school playgrounds, fields, goals, office/teacher room furniture, and play rooms.
• Training Equipment Training materials including marking equipment, strength training (dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, wall balls, slam balls), coordination & speed (ladders, hoops, hurdles, reaction training, rebounders, tchouks), conditioning, resistance, balance, digital/measurement equipment, and trainer supplies.
• Gezondheid (Health & Fitness Products) Health and fitness products including exercise materials (sport mats, exercise balls, resistance, balance), meditation, yoga, fitness equipment (cardio machines — cross trainers, home trainers, treadmills, rowing machines — and small fitness items), therapy & rehabilitation, smartwatches/wearables, care products, sport braces, and sport tape.
• Rotterdam Showroom (Kiotoweg 389-395, 3047 BG Rotterdam) Physical retail showroom in Rotterdam where customers can browse the full Sport'81 assortment, test balls, try out games, and take materials immediately; doubles as a pickup point for online orders.
• B2B Account Ordering & Quote Service Account-based ordering and invoicing service for registered business customers (schools, municipalities, clubs, healthcare providers, holiday parks, childcare facilities) supporting bulk and recurring purchases.

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Perry Sport: Historic Dutch sporting goods chain (founded 1936) operating physical stores and e-commerce for sports equipment, footwear, and apparel. Direct comparable in terms of long-standing Dutch brand, multi-channel retail, and broad-sport positioning.
• Sport-Thieme: German specialist supplier of sports and physical education equipment targeting schools, clubs, and municipalities. Closest comparable in business model — institutional/educational B2B sports supplier with deep catalog across PE, training, and facility equipment.
• Bever: Dutch sporting goods retailer specializing in outdoor, fitness, and team sports equipment across e-commerce and physical stores. Most direct Dutch comparable to Sport'81 given similar Benelux focus and broad multi-sport assortment.

Broad incumbents

• Bol.com: Largest Dutch/Belgian marketplace carrying third-party sporting goods alongside broad consumer goods. Competes on price and convenience for standard equipment SKUs and increasingly squeezes mid-sized specialty retailers.
• Intersport: Global sporting goods retail cooperative with NL presence through franchised stores. Competes in the same multi-sport category breadth but operates at a much larger international scale with a different store-based go-to-market model.
• Amazon Netherlands: General online marketplace now operating locally in the Netherlands. Captures commodity sports equipment demand through third-party sellers and represents the long-tail competitive threat to mid-sized specialty retailers.
• Decathlon: Global sporting goods retail giant with broad assortment across hundreds of sports and own-brand manufacturing. Directly competes with Sport'81 in the Dutch market across consumer and club/pro categories, but at a much larger scale and with vertical integration.

Emerging players

• TTS Group: UK-based educational equipment supplier with growing sports and physical literacy product lines for primary schools. Comparable in the education-vertical positioning and PE-focused assortment, though broader in classroom resources.

Regional players

• Hervis Sports: Austrian sporting goods retailer (part of SPAR Group) with a Benelux presence. Comparable in multi-sport breadth but primarily serves Austrian/German markets; represents a potential cross-border expansion reference point for Sport'81.
• Reece Netherlands: Dutch arm of Australian team sports specialist Reece, focused on hockey, korfball, and field sport equipment. Comparable for the niche institutional/club channels but narrower in sport coverage than Sport'81.

Market position

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Sport81BV
• Facebookfacebook.com/sport81.nl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sport'81