Action Sports

What Action Sports does

Action Sports is a family-owned custom apparel and promotional products company headquartered at 75 W Bankview Dr in Frankfort, Illinois, operating since the early 1980s (originally as Donna Davis Enterprises, rebranded to Action Sports in the late 1980s or early 1990s). The business serves individuals, schools, sports teams, dance companies, health and fitness clubs, local businesses, and organizations across Frankfort and surrounding Chicago-suburban communities (New Lenox, Manhattan, Tinley Park, Mokena, Orland Park, Homer Glen, Monee, Peotone), with ownership transitioning from the founding Davis family to the local Swallow and Lohrens families in 2016.

The company's product portfolio spans five core lines: team uniforms (for basketball, football, soccer, baseball, track, cross country, wrestling, badminton, tennis, cheerleading, and golf), corporate apparel, spirit wear, letterman jackets (sourced from Charles River Apparel, DeLONG Sportswear, and Augusta Sportswear), and promotional items (pens, water bottles, lanyards, bags, drinkware, and other branded merchandise). These are produced using four conventional decoration methods: screen printing, heat transfers, embroidery, and custom vinyl design, all executed from the single Frankfort facility. An online store creation service supports spirit wear ordering with in-store pickup or delivery.

The revenue model is project-based custom apparel and promotional product sales, priced via direct quote based on order specifications, quantity, decoration method, and customization requirements. Customer acquisition is largely through local presence, website, referrals, and direct phone/email contact. With 180 employees and no disclosed revenue, funding, or parent entity, Action Sports operates as a privately held, bootstrapped regional services business with no apparent technology platform, mobile app, public API, AI/ML capabilities, or third-party integrations beyond the supplier relationships with jacket and apparel brands.

Name

Action Sports

Legal name

Action Sports

Website

https://go2actionsports.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Action Sports is a family-owned custom apparel and promotional products shop in Frankfort, Illinois, serving schools, sports teams, businesses, and organizations across Chicago suburbs with screen printing, embroidery, heat transfers, and custom vinyl decoration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Apparel

NAICS

Sporting Goods Retailers (45911)

SIC

Sporting & Athletic Goods, Nec (3949)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRAMABAE

Team Sports Equipment & Uniforms Retail

Consumer Products & Retail/Sporting Goods & Outdoor Retail/Sporting Goods Generalist Retail

SECONDARYCRAMACAJ

Team & School Athletic Uniforms Retail

Consumer Products & Retail/Sporting Goods & Outdoor Retail/Athletic Footwear & Sport Apparel Retail

Keywords

• Custom apparel
• Screen printing
• Team uniforms
• Promotional products
• Spirit wear

Headquarters

HQ city

Frankfort

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Apparel Sales: Sale of custom team uniforms, corporate apparel, spirit wear, and letterman jackets. Products are custom designed to customer specifications with various decoration methods.
2. Promotional Products: Sale of branded promotional items including pens, water bottles, lanyards, bags, apparel, and various merchandise items used for marketing and brand awareness purposes.
3. Online Store Services: Creation and management of custom online stores for spirit wear ordering, with in-store pickup or delivery options.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Action Sports is a custom apparel and promotional products shop that designs, decorates, and sells team uniforms, corporate apparel, spirit wear, letterman jackets, and branded promotional items to individuals, schools, sports teams, businesses, and organizations in the Frankfort, IL area. Production is performed in-house using screen printing, heat transfers, embroidery, and custom vinyl design methods, with online spirit wear store creation offered as an additional ordering channel.

Product overview

Action Sports is a custom apparel and promotional products company offering a portfolio of five core product lines: Team Uniforms (for basketball, football, soccer, baseball, track, cross country, wrestling, badminton, tennis, cheerleading, and golf), Corporate Apparel, Spirit Wear Shop, Letterman Jackets, and Promotional Items (pens, water bottles, bags, drinkware, and other branded merchandise). The company provides four key manufacturing services—screen printing, heat transfers, embroidery, and custom vinyl designs—which are applied across all product categories to fulfill custom orders. All offerings are coordinated through their single physical location in Frankfort, IL, with online store creation available for spirit wear orders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Team Uniforms Custom decorated team uniforms for basketball, football, soccer, baseball, track, cross country, wrestling, badminton, tennis, cheerleading, and golf, with fit, quality, and performance tailored to each team's seasonal needs.
• Corporate Apparel Custom decorated branded work shirts, corporate event apparel, and employee uniforms designed to increase brand identity and project professionalism across a workforce.
• Spirit Wear Shop Custom designed spirit wear for schools, teams, dance companies, and health and fitness clubs, including an online store creation service for easy ordering by students, athletes, or employees with in-store pickup or delivery.
• Letterman Jackets Custom letterman jackets, school jackets, varsity jackets, and letter sweaters with options for wool body, leather or wool sleeves, shoulder inserts, multiple collar types, embroidery, and custom color combinations.
• Promotional Items Branded promotional products including shirts, pens, water bottles, lanyards, koozies, tote bags, tumblers, sunglasses, journals, mouse pads, umbrellas, mugs, and similar merchandise used for marketing, giveaways, and brand awareness.
• Screen Printing Service In-house screen printing service for applying custom designs to apparel and promotional items across all product categories.
• Heat Transfer Service In-house heat transfer decoration service for applying custom designs to apparel and promotional items.
• Embroidery Service In-house custom embroidery service for corporate apparel, letterman jackets, and other decorated items.
• Custom Vinyl Design Service In-house custom vinyl design service for producing personalized apparel decoration.

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Charles River ApparelcoreTechnology or IntegrationCharles River Apparel is a partner supplier for letterman jackets and custom outerwear at Action Sports. They provide premium quality jackets with various customization options including wool bodies, leather sleeves, and custom color combinations.
• DeLONG SportswearcoreTechnology or IntegrationDeLONG Sportswear supplies letterman jackets and varsity jackets to Action Sports. They offer standard wool bodies with various sleeve options and extensive customization possibilities.
• Augusta SportswearcoreTechnology or IntegrationAugusta Sportswear is a partner brand for Action Sports providing sportswear and outerwear products including letterman jackets and related athletic apparel.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Underground Printing: Underground Printing provides custom screen-printed and embroidered apparel for groups, schools, Greek life, and businesses with online ordering, directly competing for the same team-uniform and spirit-wear customer Action Sports serves.
• Prep Sportswear: Prep Sportswear runs custom online spirit wear and team apparel stores for schools and youth sports organizations — directly overlapping with Action Sports' custom online spirit wear store offering.
• Custom Ink: Custom Ink is a national online platform for custom-decorated apparel, spirit wear, and group orders — the same product set (team uniforms, spirit wear, corporate apparel, promotional products) that Action Sports serves at a local level, but at a much larger scale.
• Blue 84: Blue 84 specializes in custom college and school spirit wear with online team stores, mirroring Action Sports' spirit wear shop model for the school and youth organization segment.
• Logo Sportswear: Logo Sportswear sells customizable team uniforms, spirit wear, and corporate apparel via an online configurator; comparable product breadth and target customer (schools, sports teams, businesses) to Action Sports.
• Team Sports Planet: Team Sports Planet sells custom team uniforms and spirit apparel for school and club sports teams with online configurators, directly comparable to Action Sports' team uniform and spirit wear lines.
• The Jay Group: The Jay Group provides custom-decorated apparel, letterman jackets, and team uniforms with in-house decoration services, closely aligned with Action Sports' multi-method decoration model and product mix.

Broad incumbents

• 4imprint: 4imprint is a large national distributor of branded promotional products (drinkware, bags, pens, apparel), competing with Action Sports' promotional items business but at a much larger scale and broader catalog.
• HALO Branded Solutions: HALO is a large-scale promotional products and branded merchandise provider serving corporate clients nationwide, overlapping with Action Sports' promotional items and corporate apparel offerings at the higher end of the market.

Regional players

• Gear Up Sports: Gear Up Sports is a regional custom team uniform and spirit wear provider serving youth sports leagues and schools with similar decoration services and product categories to Action Sports, though typically in different geographies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/action-sports_2

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Action Sports