Sales of the 72 largest sporting goods specialty chains globally were slightly up to $94,077 million from $92,967 million in 2014 as the strong US$ tended to push down almost every overseas chain. Sluggish consumer spending in key global markets like the U.S. and Europe as well as unfavorable weather conditions also tended to depress results. Currency-weighted, sales of these chains were up 7.5%, which still represented a modest decline from the 8.3% constant currency increase of last year but better than the 6.3% rate of the year before.

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