Sports Authority was the biggest U.S. sporting goods chain — a leveraged buyout killed it

Sports Authority traces its roots to 1928 when Nathan Gart opened Gart Sports in Denver. The Sports Authority chain was founded in 1987 in Fort Lauderdale by a syndicate including Bain Capital. Kmart acquired it in 1990, and by 1995 it had 136 stores and was spun off. In 2003, Gart Sports merged with The Sports Authority, creating the largest full-line sporting goods retailer in the U.S. with 463 stores and 15,000 employees.

In January 2006, private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners acquired Sports Authority in a $1.4 billion leveraged buyout, loading the company with debt. The chain stopped filing public financial reports. As debt payments consumed cash, Sports Authority faced growing competition from Dick's Sporting Goods and online retailers. It could not invest in store renovations or e-commerce, and its market share eroded.

Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 2, 2016. It initially hoped to restructure, but when no buyer emerged to keep the chain operating, the case was converted to Chapter 7 liquidation. All 463 stores were closed by August 2016, and all 15,000 employees lost their jobs. Dick's Sporting Goods bought the brand name for $15 million, and the Sports Authority website redirected to Dick's. The naming rights to Sports Authority Field at Mile High were sold back to the Denver Broncos.