NEW YORK _ Exports of U.S.-made sporting goods and services are expected to see double-digit growth this year, as industrialized countries climb out of their economic slump and new markets open up. Figures from the Commerce Department show exports rose to $1.46 billion last year from $1.29 billion the year before and $1.15 billion in 1991. In each of these years, the annual increase was more than 12 percent. According to Commerce's monthly trade figures released Tuesday, exports in this category totaled $126.5 million in April, compared with $129.3 million in March. Sports-equipment exports for the first four months of 1994 were $441.1 million, up more than 15 percent from $382.8 million in the same year-ago period. Analysts agree that U.S. manufacturers are unlikely to derive a large or lasting benefit from the world soccer championship now being hosted by half a dozen cities across the United States. ``The soccer championship is going to impact very little either on what's sold here or what's exported,'' said Brad Wolverton, an editor of the sporting-goods trade magazine Sports Trend. ``The retail industry hasn't bought big into this category,'' he said in a telephone interview from his Atlanta office. The Commerce Department did not even take the soccer event into consideration in preparing the outlook for trade in the sporting-goods category. Nor did it time any of its numerous trade promotion activities to coincide with the soccer championships, even though sporting goods represents a ``high priority'' item on the government's list of U.S. exports, said a senior government official. ``It's very difficult to measure the impact of summer sports on equipment sales,'' the official said.. In the United States, the number of soccer players has been on the rise in the past three years. Figures compiled by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association show some 16.4 million Americans play soccer, topping the number of baseball players by at least 800,000. The wholesale value of soccer accessories jumped more than 20 percent last year to $35 million in 1993 from the previous year. In general, exports of sporting goods, excluding clothing, have been rising steadily during recent years, with Japan, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico and the United Kingdom representing the largest export markets. In its projections for all of 1994, Commerce said it anticipates sporting-goods exports alone to rise at least 13.5 percent, attributing the growth mainly to larger shipments to other industrialized nations. Wolverton said a survey of U.S. manufacturers indicates Central and Eastern Europe represent possibly the most-promising growth market for licensed goods bearing U.S. brand names. ``The hotbed of expansion for licensed products is Eastern Europe,'' he said, adding, ``manufacturers are drooling over this market.'' ``A Michael Jordan T-shirt or a Georgetown University cap will sell much quicker in Prague (the Czech Republic) than in Washington,'' he said, referring to the former U.S. basketball star and the school with one of the more popular basketball teams. Despite the large growth in exports of sporting goods, the United States still records a sizable trade deficit in this category. Commerce figures show imports, mostly of goods at the low-end of the market, totaled $2.67 billion last year, up from $2.55 billion in 1992. But the gap has been gradually closing as the rate of import growth continues to lag behind the increase in exports. The trade deficit for the January through April period was reported at $419.9 million. Government trade figures do not track receipts from sporting goods licenses separately. Rather, such earnings are included in the overall category of ``royalties.'' Commerce anticipates economic recovery and an increasing interest in physical exercise in industrialized countries will continue to fuel long-term growth in sporting-goods trade. ``Many industrialized countries are experiencing a boom in fitness equipment, similar to what happened in the United States in the 1970s and '80s,'' the agency said in an analysis of the industry released earlier this year. Because of the economic growth in such countries as Japan, Germany and Britain, the market share of highly regarded U.S. brand names ``is expected to increase at even faster rates than the growth of the overall sports equipment market,'' the study said. The North American Free Trade Agreement, which will result in the lowering of Mexican import tariffs on sports equipment imports, Commerce said, also is expected to open up new opportunities in Mexico.
