Waterman Sport

Name

Waterman Sport

Legal name

V.O.F. Waterman Sport

Website

https://watermansport.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1922

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ice Skating and Inline Skating Specialty Retail

NAICS

Sporting Goods Retailers (45911), Recreational Goods Rental (532284)

akta.pro primary industry

Ski & Snowboard Equipment Retail (Skis, Boards, Boots, Bindings, Poles) (CRAMAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ski & Snowboard Protective Gear Retail (Helmets, Goggles, Pads, Back Protectors) (CRAMAJAC), Water Sports & Marine Recreation Retail (Paddle/Surf/Dive/Boat Accessories) (CRAMABAI)

Keywords

• Ice skate retail
• Skate rental services
• Inline skates sales
• Ski equipment retail
• Skate maintenance services

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Sales of ice skates, inline skates, accessories, and clothing through physical stores and online webshop. Includes noren, klapschaatsen, shorttrack, kunstschaatsen, hockeyschaatsen, skeelers, and related apparel.
2. Rental Services: Short-term and long-term rental of ice skates and inline skates to individuals, schools, and corporate groups. Includes skate rental at ice rink locations and touring skate rentals.
3. Maintenance and Repair Services: Professional sharpening, rust removal, repairs, and general maintenance of skates and skeelers. Revenue generated through service fees for maintenance work.
4. Lease Subscriptions: Monthly subscription-based lease program through Smartskate, offering skates for extended periods with included services like sharpening, bag, and size exchanges for children.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Waterman Sport specializes in the sale, rental, and maintenance of ice skates and inline skates (skeelers) through physical stores at Dutch ice rinks and an e-commerce webshop. The product assortment spans long track, short track, figure, hockey, and clap skates, plus protective gear, team clothing, and accessories. Service offerings include daily and multi-day skate rental (individual, school, corporate, and touring), a monthly lease subscription via Smartskate, personalized skate fitting, and professional sharpening and repair services. The SkiPoint subsidiary in Diemen extends the same model to ski and snowboard equipment.

Product overview

Waterman Sport is a fourth-generation family business operating as a specialty retail chain for skating and winter sports equipment in the Netherlands. The core offering consists of ice skates (including long track, short track, figure, and hockey skates), inline skates/skeelers, and related accessories and clothing. Services include skate rental (daily and seasonal), maintenance (sharpening and repairs), and lease subscriptions via Smartskate. The company also operates a subsidiary, Skipoint, for ski and snowboard equipment. Waterman Sport has physical stores at the Jaap Eden IJsbaan in Amsterdam and Vechtsebanen in Utrecht, plus an e-commerce webshop at shop.watermansport.nl.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SkiPoint: Ski and snowboard retail, rental, and maintenance subsidiary located in Diemen, opened in October 2000.
• Smartskate
• Skipoint

Products and services

• Ice Skates (Schaatsen)

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bever: Bever is a large Dutch outdoor and sporting goods retailer with both e-commerce and physical stores. Comparability: sells skates, skis, and winter sports equipment to Dutch consumers alongside broader outdoor categories, directly overlapping with Waterman Sport's product lines and customer base.
• Sport 2000: Sport 2000 is an international sporting goods retailer with a Netherlands presence through affiliated stores. Comparability: offers skate and winter sports equipment and accessories, targeting Dutch consumers in a similar specialty-to-mass sports retail segment.
• Perry Sport: Perry Sport is an established Dutch sporting goods chain. Comparability: offers athletic footwear, skates, and sporting accessories to Dutch consumers via physical stores and e-commerce, competing within the same broad consumer sports category as Waterman Sport.
• Intersport Nederland: Intersport operates a network of sporting goods stores in the Netherlands under the Intersport banner. Comparability: multi-brand sporting goods retailer offering skates, ski equipment, and accessories, competing for the same Dutch recreational consumer base as Waterman Sport.
• Aktiesport: Aktiesport is a Dutch sporting goods retailer known for sports footwear and apparel. Comparability: sells ice skates, inline skates, and protective gear through Dutch storefronts and online, overlapping directly with Waterman's inline skate and skate hardware offering.
• Decathlon Netherlands: Decathlon is a global sporting goods retailer with significant Netherlands footprint. Comparability: carries ice skates, inline skates, protective gear, and ski equipment through both stores and online channels, competing for the same recreational sporting goods budget as Waterman.

Others

• Skipoint (operating subsidiary): Skipoint is Waterman Sport's wholly-owned ski and snowboard subsidiary in Diemen. Included as an internal comparable reference operating an adjacent winter sports equipment retail, rental, and maintenance model under the same ownership.

Direct peers

• HockeyGear.nl: HockeyGear.nl is a Dutch specialty hockey equipment retailer. Comparability: sells ice hockey skates, protective gear, and accessories with a similar customer-overlap profile to Waterman Sport's hockeyschaatsen and protective gear lines.

Emerging players

• Zandstra Skates: Zandstra is a Netherlands-based skate brand and retailer. Comparability: produces and sells ice skates and inline skates to Dutch customers, partially overlapping with Waterman's product assortment in niche skate manufacturing and direct-to-consumer skate sales.
• Nordic Sports / Nordic Sport Service: Nordic Sports provides Nordic and speed skating equipment and services in the Netherlands. Comparability: serves recreational and competitive speed skaters with equipment sales and sharpening services, directly overlapping with Waterman Sport's noor-speed skating and skate maintenance offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SchaatswinkelWaterman
• Instagraminstagram.com/watermansport
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/v-o-f-waterman-sport

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 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 Waterman Sport