The sports industry in the United States is estimated to reach $73.5 billion in 2019. It covers everything from sporting events, merchandise, sports writing, equipment and gear, memorabilia, and more. Don't forget about fantasy sports either, or narrower fields like wrestling or football.
Whether they play sports or are just sports fans, it is a very big part of a lot of people's lives and they are very passionate about it. This means they are very likely to keep buying sports-related products.
Here are the great sports affiliate programs to get you started, but for more in-depth research, please visit my sports affiliate research page. You can also view a huge number of niche-specific sports affiliate programs listed by category to brainstorm more ideas for your sports blog.
If you haven't started your sports blog yet, here are 50 sports blog name ideas to consider, plus details on how to start your blog, find a host and registrar, then start earning income. The process for all blogs is pretty much the same, but I provide context for the sports industry.
Sports Affiliate Programs
- Al’s Sporting Goods
- Fanatics
- LeftLane Sports
- Fitbit
- Soccer Garage
- SportsIntegrity.Com
- Baseball Rampage
- Eastern Mountain Sports
- Total Gym
- Under Armour
Al’s Sporting Goods
- URL: Al’s Sporting Goods Affiliate Program
- Commission: 7.2%
- Cookie: 45 days
Al’s Sporting Goods carries the top brand names like Nike, The North Face, Under Armour, Yeti, Patagonia, and more. Better brands bring in more customers, more conversions, and more commissions for Al’s Sporting Goods and their affiliates. They offer gear for every sport in every season from over 1,200 vendors. Also, all orders over $75 are eligible for free ground shipping.
Affiliates earn 7.2% for each sale you send them. The 45-day cookie life gives lots of time to receive credit from your link. The average order is $120. Al’s Sporting Goods offers specific discount promotions just for their affiliates along with dedicated program management and support.
Why Should You Promote Al’s Sporting Goods: Very high average order amount, high commission rate, extremely long cookie life
Al’s Sporting Goods' huge sporting selection means you can market any sport in every season along with the top name brands for high conversion rates with a high retail commission.
Fanatics
- URL: Fanatics Affiliate Program
- Commission: Up to 10%
- Cookie: 7 days
Fanatics is one of the world’s largest online retail shops for officially licensed merchandise for NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, NHL, UFC, MLS, NASCAR, and more. With over 400,000+ items and are new merchandise added all the time, they have something for every sports fan. They also offer easy 365-day returns and Fanatics Rewards so you can save even more.
Affiliates can up to 10% on every sale depending on the amount of traffic you generate, and the level of trust and engagement you have built with your audience. The cookie duration is 7 days. Fanatics has 2%+ conversion rates that can range up seasonally. They also offer the best tools to help their affiliates succeed.
Why Should You Promote Fanatics: One of the world’s largest online licensed sports merchandise shop, high commission potential, good retail cookie life
Earn up to 10% commission with a well-known and trust sports merchandise online shop. It’s very important to note that Fanatics does not allow any paid search in their program including PPC or Facebook advertising.
LeftLane Sports
- URL: LeftLane Sports Affiliate Program
- Commission: 10%
- Cookie: 60 day
LeftLane Sports is the leading members-only sporting goods eCommerce community. Membership will always be free and give you access to your favorite brands and products at unbeatable prices. They offer top name brands at 70% off retail including Under Armour, Columbia, KEEN, Teva, Asiscs, Adidas, and many more. Members receive 90-day returns and a 14-day price drop guarantee. If the price changes within 14 days of your purchase, they give you the difference in-store credit. You’ll also get the industry’s fastest shipping and excellent member support.
The average order amount is $83.86 and their site conversion rate is 5 times the industry average. Affiliates receive up to a 10% commission with a 60 day cookie duration. LeftLane Sports even offers performance incentives to reward affiliate with high sales: 10.5% on all sales over $500, 12% on all sales over $1000, and 13% on all sales over $2500. LeftLane Sports runs more sales each day than any other private sporting good site. Which means you will never run out of marketing material to promote. Their dedicated affiliate managers will respond to your needs within 24 hours to answer any questions you might have.
Why Should You Promote LeftLane Sports: High conversions, huge discounts on name brands every day, great commission rates
LeftLane Sports not only gives their members access to daily discount sales, but they also work with local operators on all 7 continents to put together incredible adventure travel experiences. They reward affiliates with high sales, have a site conversion rate that is 5x higher than the industry average, and offer a long cookie life.
Fitbit
- URL: Fitbit Affiliate Program
- Commission: 3%
- Cookie: Unknown
Fitbit is the industry leader in the connected health and fitness market accounting for 72%. They build products that help transform people’s lives. They have a Fitbit tracker for every goal, fitness level, and budget. Whether you want to track your heart rate to take your sports and fitness goals to the next level or just want to motivate yourself to walk a little more each day, there is a Fitbit for you.
Affiliates receive a 3% starting commission rate. High volume affiliates are eligible for higher commission rates. Because they are a well-known and trusted industry leader, they have high conversion rates which mean more sales for you. Fitbit uses Commission Junction to manage their affiliate program and they have a very responsive affiliate management team.
Why Should You Promote Fitbit: Industry leader, High conversions, great commission rates, long cookie life
Fitbit devices are consistently the #1 selling connected devices on Amazon and make up 72% of industry, so you know are promoting products that sports and fitness already know and are very likely to trust.
Soccer Garage
- URL: Soccer Garage Affiliate Program
- Commission: 7-10%
- Cookie: 60 days
Soccer Garage is one of the largest online specialty stores of soccer equipment and apparel in the US. Their store has a very large selection of the latest products at unbeatable prices. They are headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, California, and are one of the largest soccer showrooms in the country. Soccer Garage offers free ground shipping for orders over $100 for most products.
Affiliates can earn 7-10% commissions on all sales originating from your website. The average order size of around $100. Their average conversion rate is consistently over 3%. The cookie life is 60 days long. The Soccer Garage affiliate program operates on the Commission Junction network. They created the program to help fund soccer clubs and teams. but anyone who loves soccer and owns a website can sign up to start earning extra cash.
Why Should You Promote Soccer Garage: Great conversion rate, long cookie life, huge selection of soccer products
If you are looking to focus just on soccer, Soccer Garage offers almost as high of commission rates as Al’s Sporting Goods and LeftLane Sports but it specialized just for your fan base. It’s important to note that you only receive credit from banners and links you put on your website.
SportsIntegrity.Com
- URL: SportsIntegrity.Com Affiliate Program
- Commission: 10%
- Cookie: Unknown
SportsIntegrity.Com is a leader in the sports memorabilia industry, they offer 100% authentic autographed sports memorabilia. They participate in contracted signings with athletes to provide consumers top-quality authentic autographs.
They partnered with ShareASale to administer their affiliate program. Affiliates will earn a 10% commission on any sales generated. It's a two-tiered program so affiliates will also get 10% commission on sales generated from other person referred to them that signs up as an affiliate. There is also a $1 recruiting payment when a new affiliate is referred.
Why Should You Promote SportsIntegrity.Com: Generous commission, a wide selection of items to offer, years of experience in the business
SportsIntegrity.Com has over 20 years of experience in the business. Aside from their wide selection of sports memorabilia, they also have an Entertainment category. One can also pre-order items.
Baseball Rampage
- URL: Baseball Rampage Affiliate Program
- Commission: 9%
- Cookie: 365 days
Baseball Rampage has been selling baseball equipment since 1996 and operates out of a custom-built warehouse/call center in Columbus, Ohio. They have the best performance baseball equipment at the lowest prices. Baseball Rampage is an authorized retailer for all of the major manufacturers including Louisville Slugger, Under Armour, Franklin, Nokona, Mizuno, Wilson, and more.
The average order amount is around $150. Affiliates receive 9% commissions on sales and an extremely long 365-day cookie life. Baseball Rampage converts most of their leads because of their low prices, special offers, and their great customer service. They have the most flexible baseball affiliate program with the least strict PPC bidding rules. Their only rules are that you must bid under them under their trademarked terms and variations. They provide their affiliates with marketing tools like custom banners, product showcase creators, PopShops, and comprehensive data feed.
Why Should You Promote Baseball Rampage: Year-long cookie life, high average order total, the generous commission rate
You can also join their affiliate program on Commission Junction but the cookie life will go down to 45 days.
Eastern Mountain Sports
- URL: Eastern Mountain Sports Affiliate Program
- Commission: 7-9%
- Cookie: 15 days
Eastern Mountain Sports is a giant in the outdoor industry with 60 retails stores. They carry the top brands customers want like Patagonia, GoPro, Merrell, The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, and more. Their site is loaded with great deals and an outlet shop for even more discounts and savings. EMS offers a purchase guarantee that lets dissatisfied customers return items for a full refund which helps them convert more leads to try new products out.
Bigger brands mean bigger commissions for their affiliates who receive 7% for every sale generated. VIP rates are also available for high-volume affiliates up to 9% commission. The 60-day cookie life means you have a full two months to earn a commission. They have affiliate programs on LinkShare, ShareASale, and Avantlink, so you can pick the one that works best for you.
Why Should You Promote Eastern Mountain Sports: High retail commission rates, good cookie life, top outdoors brands, lots of great deals and discounts
Be sure to check the commission rates on all the affiliate networks. ShareASale offers a 7% commission with 15-day cookie life.
Total Gym
- URL: Total Gym Affiliate Program
- Commission: 3-7.5%
- Cookie: 45 days
Total Gym packs an entire gym’s worth of equipment into one machine. It’s great for all types of people from novice to expert trying to lose weight or get in shape. They have been endorsed by Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley for over 15 years. Total Gym offers their customers a 30-day risk-free trial, interest-free payment plans, plus their equipment does require any assembly. Total Gym weighs less than 100 pounds and you can start as soon as it arrives.
The commission rate varies by product type: Core Trainer: 5%, Full Units: 7.5%, Attachments: 3%, DVDs: 3%. The cookie life is a very appealing 45 days. Total Gym uses Commission Junction to manage its affiliate program and utilizes CJ’s dedicated affiliate management team to help affiliates set up and market its program.
Why Should You Promote Total Gym: 30-day risk-free trial, interest-free payment plans, good commission rates
Total Gym’s 30-day risk-free trial and interest-free payment plans lead to higher conversion rates which mean more commission for their affiliates.
Under Armour
- URL: Under Armour Affiliate Program
- Commission: 5%
- Cookie: 30
Under Armour’s mission is to make its customers better. They make everything from apparel, shoes, athlete recovery sleepwear, connected fitness gear, accessories, and more. All products are designed to help you achieve your fitness goals and make your life easier.
They were named Best Affiliate Program in 2012 by ABestWeb. Affiliates get a 5% commission on every sale with an average order size of $100. Their cookie duration is 30 days. Under Armour updates, their comprehensive data feed daily, and banners and text creative every month. Affiliates are also kept up to date on new products, technologies, and promotions. They partnered with Awin to run their affiliate program.
You could, of course, review Under Armour products in terms of practical usage like sweat-wicking and feel, but you could also diversify from typical sports topics like tutorials and game stats, and become more of a fashion blogger instead. Activewear is very popular!
Why Should You Promote Under Armour: Well known and trusted brand, high average order value, long retail cookie life
While Under Armour’s commission rate is lower than the other affiliate programs mentioned, it is quite high for a large retail company’s affiliate program. Under Armour’s brand, recognition and credibility will help convert leads.
Affiliate Website Ideas
It's time to decide on what niche you want to market to promote these sports affiliate programs. One niche idea you could focus on is running. Avid runners will need to keep buying gear like running shoes and shorts as they start to wear down. They could also be interested in tracking their runs to reach their fitness goals. Fitbit would be a great affiliate to promote to runners along with Al's Sports because of their high commissions and high-quality products and brands.
You could focus on college baseball or MLB teams and their merchandise, fan gear, and memorabilia. Fanatics would be a great affiliate program to use because they have lots of merchandise to choose from and are always adding new products. Plus you will receive up to 10% commissions. Or you could focus on baseball equipment for baseball groups like Little League teams or adult leagues.
You could receive very commissions from teams since they are most likely buying equipment and gear in bulk orders. Baseball Rampages would be a good affiliate to promote because of its 9% commission rate and extremely long 365-day cookie life.
Golf is another great niche idea because of its passionate fans and players. The high production costs don't hurt either. Al's Sports 10% commission rates could lead to a big payout if they purchase new clubs or full golf sets. Under Armour's affiliate program would be good for golf apparel. Even though their commission is fairly long, golfer tends to buy new clothes every season so there is lots of commission potential.
Lastly, fantasy sports can be an excellent source of income if that's what you're really interested in. There are some juicy commissions in the sports betting sector as well because money is on the line. When money's involved, you can be people who are a passionate and engaged audience.
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Boost Your Affiliate Earnings
These 10 affiliate programs are just the beginning of what's possible. There are hundreds of ways to earn affiliate commissions with your website, including product reviews, top 10 lists, how-to guides, and more
But what about traffic and conversions? How do you make sure your affiliate links get clicked?
I used the affiliate training here to turn my brand new website into a six-figure income generator in less than two years. Build a business, not just a pocket-money side project!
Nathaniell
What's up ladies and dudes! Great to finally meet you, and I hope you enjoyed this post. My name is Nathaniell and I'm the owner of One More Cup of Coffee. I started my first online business in 2010 promoting computer software and now I help newbies start their own businesses. Sign up for my #1 recommended training course and learn how to start your business for FREE!
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