The group formerly known as SGMA: New name, new site, same mission

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association took a cue from the Artist Formerly Known as Prince and became the Organization Formerly Known as SGMA.

The group recently announced that on Oct. 5 it adjusted its bylaws to officially change its name to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association and launched a new website (www.sfia.org). The newly minted SFIA will maintain its mission of providing information and research data to fitness, sporting goods, outdoor and sports retailers and manufacturers.

“The name change is really a reflection of where our focus and energies have been directed in recent years,” Mike May spokesman for SFIA told Outside Business Journal. “We already changed directions; our name change is catching up to who we are and who we’ve become.”

So as to not confuse any of its longtime members, for now the group’s correspondence all includes “formerly SGMA” after its new name.

“We’re very cognizant that people have become used to those initials and that name,” May said.

The name change comes complete with a brand-new website that’s easier to navigate, May said. The new website is www.sfia.org.

“Navigating the website and getting what you want is a little bit easier and quicker now,” May said.

May said he hopes the name change will bring in new members from the fitness, outdoor and sports industries that thought the organization was only for manufacturers or businesses within the sporting goods industry.

For years the organization has provided sports and fitness participation research. Most recently it established the Sports and Fitness Confidence Index to provide a snapshot of the industry’s health from consumer and trade perspectives. The index provides information on current consumer behavior and future purchasing plans every quarter.

The index “really helps you understand how consumers are feeling with respect to their future purchase intentions how it relates to our business,” Neil Schwartz told OBJ about the SFCI.

Plus, the organization recently released results of a study it conducted with the Active Network regarding people’s desire to be active, what keeps them from doing so and what could motivate them to get out more. The study also answered questions on why people choose certain activities over others.

It’s precisely that wide range of data that made the organization change its name, May said.

“Now that we’ve got our name in sync with our daily regimen I think people will better identify with who we are,” May said. “We’ll be able to reach companies we weren’t able to entice before.”

For more information on how to become a member of SFIA, visit its website.