As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 9, 2020

Registration No. 333-            

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

1800 North Mason Road

Katy, Texas 77449

(281) 646-5200

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Rene G. Casares, Esq.

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

1800 North Mason Road

Katy, Texas 77449

(281) 646-5200

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s agent for service)

With copies to:

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this Registration Statement is declared effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box:  ☐

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Registration Statement on Form S-1, or the Registration Statement, is being filed by Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc., a newly formed Delaware corporation, or the Registrant, in connection with a proposed registered public offering of shares of its common stock. Prior to the consummation of this offering, we intend to undertake a series of reorganization transactions, which we refer to as the Reorganization Transactions, that will result in, among other things, New Academy Holding Company, LLC, the current holding company for the business described in this prospectus that is part of the Registration Statement, being contributed to the Registrant by its unitholders and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Registrant. Following the Reorganization Transactions, the Registrant will be the holding company of the business described in this prospectus.

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities nor a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer and sale is not permitted.

Subject to completion, dated September 9, 2020

Preliminary Prospectus

                 Shares

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc.

Common Stock

This is the initial public offering of common stock of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. We are offering                  shares of our common stock.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. We expect that the initial public offering price of our common stock will be between $                 and $                 per share. We intend to apply to list our common stock on Nasdaq Global Select Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “ASO.”

After the completion of this offering, investment entities owned by investment funds and other entities affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. will beneficially own     % of the voting power of our common stock. As a result, we will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of Nasdaq. See “Management—Controlled Company Exemption.”

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 22 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of our common stock.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

We have granted the underwriters a 30-day option from the date of this prospectus to purchase up to                  additional shares of our common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions, to cover over-allotments, if any.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on or about                 , 2020.

Joint Book-Running Managers

Bookrunners

Co-Managers

Prospectus dated         , 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Through and including the 25th day after the date of this prospectus, all dealers that effect transactions in these shares of our common stock, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligations to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered or made available to you. Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with different information. The information in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus, or any free writing prospectus, as the case may be, or any sale of shares of our common stock.

For investors outside the United States: we are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, shares of our common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. Neither we nor the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.

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INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA

Within this prospectus, we reference information and statistics regarding the sporting goods and outdoor recreation retail industries. We have obtained this information and statistics from various independent third-party sources, including independent industry publications, reports by market research firms and other independent sources. Some data and other information contained in this prospectus are also based on management’s estimates and calculations, which are derived from our review and interpretation of internal company research, surveys and independent sources. Data regarding the industries in which we compete and our market position and market share within these industries are inherently imprecise and are subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties beyond our control, but we believe they generally indicate size, position and market share within these industries. While we believe such information is reliable, we have not independently verified any third-party information. While we believe our internal company research, surveys and estimates are reliable, such research, surveys and estimates have not been verified by any independent source. In addition, assumptions and estimates of our and our industries’ future performance are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Risk Factors.” These and other factors could cause our future performance to differ materially from our assumptions and estimates. See “Forward-Looking Statements.” As a result, you should be aware that market, ranking, and other similar industry data included in this prospectus, and estimates and beliefs based on that data may not be reliable. Neither we nor the underwriters can guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information contained in this prospectus.

TRADEMARKS, TRADENAMES, SERVICE MARKS AND COPYRIGHTS

We own and license a number of registered and common law trademarks and pending applications for trademark registrations in the United States, primarily through our subsidiaries, including, for example: Academy Sports + Outdoors^®, Magellan Outdoors^®, BCG^®, O’rageous^® and Outdoor Gourmet^®. Unless otherwise indicated, all trademarks appearing in this prospectus are proprietary to us, our affiliates and/or licensors. This prospectus also contains trademarks, tradenames, service marks and copyrights of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, certain trademarks, tradenames, service marks and copyrights referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ^©, ^® and ^™ symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, tradenames, service marks and copyrights. We do not intend our use or display of other parties’ trademarks, tradenames, service marks or copyrights to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply, a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other parties.

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BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Certain Definitions

The following terms are used in this prospectus unless otherwise noted or indicated by the context:

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Presentation of Financial Information

New Academy Holding Company, LLC conducts (and after the consummation of this offering, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. will conduct) its operations through its subsidiaries, including its indirect subsidiary, Academy, Ltd., an operating company which is doing business as “Academy Sports + Outdoors.”

We operate on a retail fiscal calendar pursuant to which our fiscal year consists of 52 or 53 weeks, ending on the Saturday closest to January 31 (which such Saturday may occur on a date following January 31) each year. References to any “year,” “quarter,” “half” or “month” mean “fiscal year,” “fiscal quarter,” “fiscal half year” and “fiscal month,” respectively, unless the context requires otherwise. References to “2015,” “2016,” “2017,” “2018” and “2019” relate to our fiscal years ended January 30, 2016, January 28, 2017, February 3, 2018, February 2, 2019 and February 1, 2020, respectively, unless the context requires otherwise. References to “2020” relate to our fiscal year ending January 30, 2021, unless the context requires otherwise.

Numerical figures included in this prospectus have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, numerical figures shown as totals in various tables may not be arithmetic aggregations of the figures that precede them.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

This prospectus contains “non-GAAP financial measures,” which are financial measures that either exclude or include amounts that are not excluded or included in the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP. Specifically, we make use of the non-GAAP financial measures “Adjusted EBITDA,” “Adjusted Net Income (Loss),” “Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income (Loss)” and “Adjusted Free Cash Flow.”

Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss), Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Free Cash Flow have been presented in this prospectus as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. We believe Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income (Loss) assist investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management believes Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income (Loss) are useful to investors in highlighting trends in our operating performance, while other measures can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate and capital investments. Management believes Adjusted Free Cash Flow is a useful

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measure of liquidity and an additional basis for assessing our ability to generate cash. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss), Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Free Cash Flow to supplement GAAP measures of performance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions, to establish and award discretionary annual incentive compensation, to report our compliance with certain covenants in our debt agreements, and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures.

Management supplements GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting the business than GAAP results alone. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss), Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Free Cash Flow are not recognized terms under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) as a measure of financial performance or net cash provided by operating activities as a measure of liquidity, or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, these measures are not intended to be a measure of free cash flow available for management’s discretionary use as they do not consider certain cash requirements such as interest payments, tax payments and debt service requirements. The presentations of these measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of, our results as reported under GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, the presentations of these measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies and can differ significantly from company to company. For a discussion of the use of these measures and a reconciliation of the most directly comparable GAAP measures, see “Summary—Summary Historical Consolidated Financial and Other Data.”

We also present adjusted comparable sales, which is a non-GAAP measure, in this prospectus. For a discussion of adjusted comparable sales and a reconciliation to comparable sales, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Measures—Adjusted comparable sales.”

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LETTER FROM OUR CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Dear Stakeholders and Future Stakeholders:

I am proud to introduce those of you who are not very familiar with, and further inform those of you who know us, to Academy Sports + Outdoors. I am excited to be part of this company and share all the great things we are accomplishing. Academy began over 80 years ago in San Antonio, Texas focusing on its customers with a powerful assortment and great value. It has evolved into a truly remarkable Sports + Outdoors emporium with the same strong focus on customers, assortment, and value.

Having known Academy since I was growing up in Houston, I was excited to join its Board of Managers three years ago. During that time, I learned more about Academy’s opportunities. When the opportunity to become CEO was presented two years ago, I enthusiastically took the position for three major reasons:

Leading Academy is a dream job that allows me to fill my passion for retail and connecting with customers. I have been fortunate to be part of bringing growth and improved performance to retailers in the role of President, CEO, Chairman, or Director. My current role with our strong leadership team creates a significant opportunity to enhance the culture, operations, and customer connections at Academy. We have a deep bench of excellent executives working with me, which has allowed us to achieve improving comparable sales, profitability and cash flow, thus helping to drive significant long-term shareholder value.

Since I began leading Academy, we have been working on several key initiatives including:

We have developed a focused strategy with a clear vision to be the best with a strong positive culture. We have a dedicated staff of over 20,000 team members that are focused on serving our customers and building our company. We have put together an outstanding leadership team from within and outside the company that has transformed the company over the past two years.

We have taken significant actions to improve our merchandise offering, beginning with strengthening our sports and outdoors assortment quality and selection and exiting or reducing categories that were low profit or did not fit, such as toys, electronics and luggage. We developed and improved our pricing and clearance programs to ensure our value and keep our inventory fresh. In stores, we enhanced our merchandise presentation and signage to make the shopping experience more exciting. We also upgraded our planning and allocation systems to improve our in-stocks and inventory turns and allow us to target markets and stores with the right merchandise.

Academy had been underdeveloped in omnichannel capabilities, but we have been making major improvements to our capabilities that have shown substantial progress and effects over the past year. We have made numerous website improvements, including increased speed, simplified checkout, expanded payment options, content and product information, and search capabilities. We have increased the connection between our website and our stores through our marketing, inventory, and BOPIS.

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We have made substantial enhancements in our stores, including upgrading our service levels by using new technology to hire better team members, scheduling team members to maximize their service level effectiveness, and training team members to improve selling skills and product knowledge. We have improved our supply chain operations by using a new freight system and improved freight handling processes. We have also developed and implemented a work productivity pay program that allows our distribution team members to earn more as they increase their productivity.

As you can see, we have been busy working on these and other high-value programs to improve our long-term performance. Beginning last year, we started to see improvements resulting from these initiatives. In addition, the improvements to our omnichannel capabilities have positioned us well to benefit from changing consumer preferences in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulted in substantial increases of our e-commerce sales and, in turn, our comparable sales. We have achieved four consecutive quarters with positive comparable sales, which is an improvement over our negative comparable sales for the past three fiscal years. In addition, second quarter of 2020 was our fourth consecutive quarter of profitability growth and our fifth consecutive quarter of cash flow growth. These results have allowed us to make significant progress on our long-term goals. While we still have a great deal of work and opportunity ahead of us, we are committed to work and focus on achieving our long-range vision and objectives.

Through the years, we have concentrated on serving our customers and communities, in both good and bad times. I am proud of how our company has continued this commitment during the COVID-19 crisis, through our stores that remained open after being designated as an essential retailer and through our website and omnichannel capabilities, all proving valuable to our customers. Our 20,000+ team members have been nothing short of inspiring during this challenging time, which shows not only their dedication, but their ability to adapt and succeed in any environment, be it a hurricane, recession, or pandemic. We will continue to serve our customers by offering a broad, differentiated, value assortment with the service they expect from Academy that satisfies them, regardless of the situation.

Today and going forward, we will maintain focus on our priorities and the execution necessary to achieve excellence. We believe that we have a best-in-class value offering with localized merchandising and marketing, and a new store opening and growth strategy that sets us apart from our competitors. We have proven that we are much more than a sporting goods store, as we are sought out for our extensive assortment and value by our customers, in all seasons and situations. Our customers return to our stores knowing they can count on us, time after time.

We are at the beginning of an incredible journey and still have much to accomplish. I know that we can and will be the best. I look forward to connecting with you and hope that you will join us as a public stakeholder in our mission.

    Ken C. Hicks        

    Chairman, President and

    Chief Executive Officer

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community connections. We operate three distribution centers that service our stores and our growing e-commerce platform, which reaches 47 states today. We have significant new store whitespace and our disciplined approach to store openings has allowed most stores to achieve profitability within the first twelve months of opening a store.

We are active members of the communities in which we operate. Our long-time customers have grown up with the Academy brand over time and pass their passion for us on to the next generation, enabling us to benefit from strong customer loyalty and shopping frequency in our embedded regional markets.

 

Our broad assortment appeals to all ages, incomes and aspirations, including beginning and advanced athletes, families enjoying outdoor recreation and enthusiasts pursuing their passion for sports and the outdoors. We enable our customers to enjoy a variety of sports and outdoors activities, whether they are trying out a new sport, tailgating for a sporting event or hosting a family barbecue. We enhance our customers’ shopping experience through our knowledgeable and passionate team members and value-added store services, making us a preferred, one-stop shopping destination. We carefully tailor our products and services to meet local needs and offer our customers memorable experiences that help us maintain lasting emotional connections with our loyal customer base and the communities we serve.   We sell a range of sporting and outdoor recreation products. Our strong merchandise assortment is anchored by our broad offering of year-round items, such as fitness equipment and apparel, work and casual wear, folding chairs, wagons and tents, training and running shoes and coolers. We also carry a deep selection of seasonal items, such as sports equipment and apparel,

seasonal wear and accessories, hunting and fishing equipment and apparel, patio furniture, trampolines, play sets, bicycles and severe weather supplies. We provide locally relevant offerings, such as crawfish boilers in Louisiana, licensed apparel for area sports fans, baits and lures for area fishing spots and beach towels in coastal markets. Our value-based assortment also includes exclusive products from our portfolio of 17 owned brands. Nearly 20% of our 2019 sales were from our owned brands, such as Magellan Outdoors and BCG, which offer a distinct offering to our customers and approximately 60% of our customers purchased an owned brand item from us in 2019. Our merchandising creates a balanced sales mix throughout the year with no single season accounting for more than 28% of our annual sales.

Our stores deliver industry-leading unit sales and profitability, including 2019 net sales per store of $18.7 million, average sales per square foot of $264, and average EBITDA per store of $1.3 million. Our customers love the Academy store shopping experience because they are able to easily find, learn about, feel, try on and walk out with their favorite items. Our one-stop, convenient store layout, together with our highly trained team members offering value-added customer services, drive strong and consistent store foot traffic and transaction volume, with our average customers visiting our stores two to four times per year and our best customers visiting our stores nine times per year. The majority of our stores are located in high-traffic shopping centers, while none of the stores are located in, or anchored to, malls.

Our emerging, profitable e-commerce platform that leverages our strong BOPIS and shipping fulfillment capabilities has achieved year-over-year sales growth of 8% and 284% during 2019 and the first half 2020,

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respectively. Our e-commerce sales represented 5% and 11% of our merchandise sales in 2019 and the first half 2020, respectively. We are deepening our customer relationships, further integrating our e-commerce platform with our stores and driving operating efficiencies by developing our omnichannel capabilities. Our BOPIS program, launched in 2019, accounted for approximately 24% and 50% of our e-commerce sales during 2019 and the first half 2020, respectively, and allows customers to place an order on our website and pick up their product at a desired location, either in-store or curbside. Our website also serves as a platform for marketing and product education, enhancing our customer experience and driving traffic to our stores. Our website is introducing new customers to the Academy brand, with approximately 25% of our e-commerce sales during first half 2020 coming from new households.

We serve our communities by supporting events, programs and organizations that help make a positive impact, including the sponsorship of over 1,500 local sports teams. We promote and encourage safety and responsibility, so that everyone can feel confident and comfortable doing what they love, by offering products and information that enable our customers to be smart, responsible and safe. We have a long history of providing essential products for crisis preparedness and have helped our communities, customers and team members through various natural disasters and crises.

We finished the twelve months ended August 1, 2020 with approximately $5.3 billion in sales, $204 million of net income and $449 million in Adjusted EBITDA. Although comparable sales have been negative for the past three fiscal years, we have seen four consecutive quarters of positive comparable sales as of second quarter 2020. In addition, second quarter 2020 reflected our fourth consecutive quarter of Adjusted EBITDA growth and our fifth consecutive quarter of Adjusted Free Cash Flow growth. We earned net income of $21 million, $120 million and $204 million and Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income of $41 million, $76 million and $178 million in 2018, 2019 and the twelve months ended August 1, 2020, respectively, which included $158 million of net income and $135 million of Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income for first half 2020. See “—Summary Historical Consolidated Financial and Other Data” for definitions of Adjusted EBITDA, Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Free Cash Flow and reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA and Pro Forma Adjusted Net Income to net income and Adjusted Free Cash Flow to net cash provided by operating activities.

 

Net Sales ($ in millions)		Adj. EBITDA ($ in millions)		Cum. Adjusted FCF ($ in millions)

Our Performance Improvement Initiatives

We have made significant progress on several key performance improvement initiatives that drove positive comparable sales and Adjusted EBITDA growth in the last four consecutive quarters ended August 1, 2020, and created a foundation for our future growth. These key initiatives include:

 

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Strengthened leadership team – Our leadership team comprises nine highly experienced and proven individuals, six of whom joined Academy from 2017 to 2018, led by our Chief Executive Officer and including our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Merchandising Officer, EVP of Retail Operations, SVP of Omnichannel, and Chief Information Officer. Our leadership team also recently demonstrated its ability to adapt, operate and gain market share and new customers during the most challenging of retail environments, including its ability to safely operate our stores and distribution centers, source and deliver our merchandise, and manage our liquidity and expenses in all elements of our business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below and the other information set forth in this prospectus before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our results of operations are highly dependent on the U.S. economy and U.S. consumer discretionary spending and an economic and financial downturn may cause a decline in U.S. consumer discretionary spending and may adversely affect our business, operations, liquidity, capital resources and financial results.

Our results of operations are affected by the relative condition of the U.S. economy. All of our sales are generated within the United States, making our results of operations highly dependent on the U.S. economy and U.S. consumer discretionary spending. A decline in discretionary spending by U.S. consumers could negatively affect our business and results of operations.

The general conditions that affect U.S. consumer discretionary spending in our markets include:

Increasing volatility in financial markets may cause some of the aforementioned conditions to change with even greater degree of frequency and magnitude. In addition, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, or fear of such an event, could evolve into a worldwide crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, including the United States, resulting in an economic downturn that could affect demand for our

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products, materially adversely affect our business operations, our team members, facilities, partners, suppliers, distributors or customers, decrease traffic to our stores, create delays and inefficiencies in our supply chain, and make it difficult or impossible for us to deliver products to our customers.

Our comparable sales, net sales per square foot, customer traffic or average value per transaction may be adversely affected if, for example, our customers reduce their purchases with us due to job losses, foreclosures, bankruptcies, higher consumer debt and interest rates, higher taxes, reduced access to credit, falling home prices and lower consumer confidence. A reduction in overall consumer spending which causes customers to shift their spending to products other than those sold by us or to products sold by us that are less profitable could result in lower net sales, decreases in inventory turnover or a reduction in profitability due to lower margins, which could make it more difficult for us to generate cash flow sufficient to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness. A prolonged period of depressed consumer spending could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Additionally, if the U.S. or global economy experiences a crisis or downturn, including any capital markets volatility or government intervention in the financial markets, or if the U.S. or global economy experiences a prolonged period of decelerating or negative growth, then our liquidity, capital resources or results of operations could be materially and adversely impacted. For example, although we typically generate funds from our operations to pay our operating expenses and fund our capital expenditures, our ability to continue to meet these cash requirements over the long-term may require access to additional sources of funds, including our ABL Facility, incremental term loan facilities and the equity and debt capital markets. Adverse financial and economic conditions may adversely affect our ability to draw on our ABL Facility, the ability of banks to honor draws on our ABL Facility or our ability to obtain incremental term loan facilities or access the equity and debt capital markets. In addition, adverse economic conditions could adversely affect our suppliers’ access to the capital and liquidity required to maintain their inventory, production levels, timeliness and product quality and to operate their businesses, which could adversely affect our supply chain, or could reduce our suppliers’ offerings of trade credit, customer incentives, vendor allowances, cooperative marketing expenditures and product promotions, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Adverse economic conditions could also make it difficult for both us and our suppliers to accurately forecast future product demand trends, which could cause us to carry too much or too little merchandise in various product categories, or could adversely affect our landlords and real estate developers of retail space, which may limit the availability of attractive leased store locations. The potential ongoing effects of an economic and financial crisis are difficult to forecast and mitigate. We may experience difficulties in operating and growing our operations to react to a U.S. or global financial or economic crisis or downturn. We may be unable, in such cases, to predict how robust a recovery of the U.S. or global economy will be or whether or not it will be sustained.

If we are unable to predict or effectively react to changes in consumer tastes and preferences, or if we fail to acquire and sell brand name merchandise at competitive prices, or if we are not successful in managing our inventory balances, then we may lose customers and our sales may decline and our results of operations may be negatively affected.

The level of success we achieve is dependent on, among other factors, the frequency of merchandise and service innovations, how accurately and timely we predict consumer tastes and preferences regarding sporting goods and outdoor recreation merchandise, the level of consumer demand, the availability of merchandise, the related impact on the demand for existing merchandise, and the competitive environment. Our products must appeal to a broad range of customers whose preferences cannot be predicted with certainty and are subject to change. We must identify, obtain supplies of, and offer to our customers, attractive, innovative and high-quality merchandise on a continuous basis. It is difficult to predict consistently and successfully the products and services our customers will demand as we often purchase products from our vendors several months in advance of the proposed delivery. Our failure to timely identify or effectively respond to changing consumer tastes, preferences and spending patterns could negatively affect our relationship with our customers, the demand for our merchandise and services and our market share, which could have a material adverse effect on our net sales and results of operations.

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An unexpected major shift in consumer demand away from sporting goods, sports and casual apparel and footwear, and outdoor recreation products could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Consumer spending on sporting goods, sports and casual apparel and footwear, and outdoor recreation products could decrease or be displaced by spending on other activities due to a number of factors, including:

Total consumer spending may not continue to increase at historical rates due to slowed production growth and shifts in population demographics, and it may not increase in certain product categories given changes in consumer interests and participation rates. Our results of operations could be negatively affected if consumer spending on sporting goods and outdoor recreation products or sports participation rates decline.

Our business is highly dependent upon our ability to purchase brand name merchandise from our vendors at competitive prices. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to acquire such brand name merchandise at competitive prices or on competitive terms in the future. In this regard, brand name merchandise that is in high demand may be allocated by brand name vendors based upon the vendors’ internal criterion which is beyond our control. If we lose any of our brand name vendors or if any of our brand name vendors fail to supply us with brand name merchandise, we may not be able to meet the demand of our customers for their brand names.    

We must maintain sufficient inventory levels of merchandise that our customers desire to successfully operate our business. A shortage of popular merchandise could reduce our net sales. Conversely, we also must seek to avoid accumulating excess inventory to maintain appropriate in-stock levels. If we overstock unpopular merchandise, then we may be forced to take significant inventory markdowns or miss opportunities for the sale of other merchandise, both of which could have a negative impact on our profitability, and, in turn, our sales may decline or we may be required to sell the merchandise we have obtained at lower prices. For example, the popularity of much of the licensed apparel we offer is dependent on the performance of certain sporting teams throughout the course of the applicable sports seasons. If we overestimate or underestimate the projected success of a certain sports team, we may have to take significant mark-downs of our licensed apparel for that sports team or we may miss the opportunity to sell additional licensed apparel or other products with that sports team’s logo. The success of sporting teams is highly uncertain and difficult to predict. In addition, macro factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may significantly affect whether or not certain sports leagues are able to host their games in their usual seasons, and if they are, whether or not spectators can attend. Our licensed apparel is significantly more popular when spectators are able to attend the games of the sports teams featured on such apparel. If we are not successful in managing our inventory balances, our results of operations may be negatively affected.

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Intense competition in the sporting goods and outdoor recreation retail industries could limit our growth and reduce our profitability.

The market for sporting and outdoor recreation goods is highly fragmented and intensely competitive. Our current and prospective competitors include many large companies, some of which have substantially greater market presence, name recognition and financial, marketing and other resources than us. We compete directly or indirectly with the following categories of companies:

Pressure from our competitors could require us to reduce our prices or increase our spending for advertising and promotion. Traditional competitors have become increasingly promotional and, if our competitors reduce their prices, it may be difficult for us to reach our net sales goals without reducing our prices, which could impact our margins. Increased competition in markets in which we have stores or the adoption by competitors of innovative store formats, aggressive pricing, promotion or delivery strategies and retail sale methods, such as the Internet, could cause us to lose market share and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, as the popularity and use of Internet sites and free merchandise shipping continue to increase, our business faces increased competition from various domestic and international sources, including our suppliers. Additionally, the ability of consumers to compare prices on a real-time basis through the use of smartphones and digital technology puts additional pressure on us to maintain competitive prices vis-à-vis our competitors. We may require significant capital in the future to sustain or grow our business, including our store and e-commerce activities, due to increased competition, and there is no assurance that cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet those needs or that additional sources of capital will be available on acceptable terms or at all.

The impact of COVID-19 may adversely affect our business and financial results.

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global and U.S. economies, disrupted consumer spending and global supply chains, and created significant volatility and disruption of labor and financial markets. The COVID-19 pandemic may have an adverse impact on our business and financial performance, including an economic downturn that adversely affects demand for our products, adversely affects our business operations, our team members, facilities, partners, suppliers, distributors or customers, decreases demand for our products, creates delays and inefficiencies in our supply chain, and makes it difficult for us to timely provide products to our customers. The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and financial performance, including our ability to execute our near-term and long-term business strategies and initiatives in the expected time frame, will depend on future developments, including the duration and severity of the pandemic, which are uncertain and cannot be predicted.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, various governmental authorities and we have imposed and may further impose numerous requirements and restrictions on the operations of our facilities that are intended to protect the health and safety of our team members, consumers and communities, including temporary full or partial closures of our stores, distribution centers and corporate headquarters, restrictions on our goods and services eligible for sale, restrictions on the ability of customers and team members to reach our stores and other facilities and the neighboring businesses upon which we rely to drive traffic to our stores, and the closures of schools and businesses that our team members may rely upon for childcare while they work. The situation also

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has necessitated the imposition of significant new safety measures to which we must adhere to safely serve our customers while also providing for the safety of our team members and suppliers, including limitations on the number of customers and team members allowed in our stores at any given time, shorter operating hours, and increased distancing, face covering, cleaning and sanitization protocols. Each of these necessary measures has substantially increased our operating costs, including, but not limited to, costs incurred to implement the operational changes described above and certain payments to or other costs relating to team members who are not working during the pandemic. These limitations, requirements and decreases, which are unprecedented, unexpected, ongoing and indefinite, may adversely impact our business and results. During the first quarter 2020, we closed our corporate headquarters, temporarily furloughed a significant portion of our corporate team members, and most of our active corporate team members worked from home due to local shutdown orders, and any need to take these actions again in the future may negatively impact productivity and cause other disruptions to our business. We began partially reopening our corporate headquarters during May 2020 to a limited number of team members and the remainder of our corporate team members returned to our corporate headquarters on June 8, 2020, in accordance with local guidelines. Our information technology systems and cybersecurity could also be adversely affected due to any significant increase in remote working of our team members due to any future closing of our corporate headquarters and in online orders due to a significant increase in online transactions. The operations of our stores, distribution centers, and corporate office could be further restricted, if we deem necessary or if recommended or mandated by authorities and these measures could have an adverse impact on our sales and profits.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may have fewer resources to operate our business and we could also see deterioration in macroeconomic factors that typically affect us. In addition, consumer fears about becoming ill with the disease may continue, which will adversely affect traffic to our stores. Any significant reduction in consumer willingness to visit stores, levels of consumer spending at our stores or team member willingness to staff our facilities, or the further temporary closure of our facilities, relating to the pandemic or its impact on the economy, consumer sentiment or health concerns, could result in a loss of sales and profits and other material adverse effects. Consumer spending generally may also be negatively impacted by general macroeconomic conditions and consumer confidence, including the impacts of any recession, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Any decreased spending at stores or online caused by decreased consumer confidence and spending following the pandemic could result in a loss of sales and profits and other material adverse effects. Also, if we do not respond appropriately to the pandemic, or if customers do not perceive our response to be adequate for a particular region or our company as a whole, we could suffer damage to our reputation and our brand, which could adversely affect our business in the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic also has the potential to significantly impact our supply chain if the factories that manufacture our products, the distributors that distribute our products, the distribution centers where we manage our inventory, or the operations of our logistics and other service providers are disrupted, temporarily closed or experience worker shortages. We may also see further disruptions or delays in shipments and negative impacts to pricing of certain components of our products. The COVID-19 pandemic has already impacted the suppliers of products we sell, particularly as a result of mandatory shutdowns in locations where our products are manufactured.

A significant amount of our merchandise is produced in China and the recent COVID-19 outbreak in China has resulted in significant governmental measures being implemented in China to control the spread of the virus, including, among others, restrictions on manufacturing and the movement of team members in many regions of the country. These measures in China have resulted in, and may result in further, disruptions to our supply chain, including the temporary closure of third-party manufacturer facilities, interruptions in labor and/or product supply, or restrictions on the export or shipment of our products. As a result, our third-party manufacturers may not have the materials, capacity, or capability to manufacture our products according to our schedule and specifications. If our third-party manufacturers’ operations are curtailed, we may need to seek alternate manufacturing sources, which may be more expensive. Alternate sources may not be available or may result in delays in shipments to us from our supply chain and subsequently to our customers, each of which would affect

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our results of operations. While the disruptions and restrictions on the ability to travel, quarantines, and temporary closures of the facilities of our third-party manufacturers and suppliers, as well as general limitations on movement in the region, are expected to be temporary, the duration of the production and supply chain disruption, and related financial impact, cannot be estimated at this time. Should the production and distribution closures continue for an extended period of time, the impact on our supply chain in China and globally could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows.

The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our results, financial position and liquidity will depend on future developments, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the pandemic and any actions or inactions to contain COVID-19 or mitigate its impact, among others, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. The extent of the impact of COVID-19 on our business and financial results will also depend on the duration and spread of the outbreak, including whether there is a “second wave” caused by additional periods of increases or spikes in the number of COVID-19 cases, further mutations or related strains of the virus (or even the threat or perception that this could occur), within the markets in which we operate and the related impact on consumer confidence and spending, labor supply or product supply, all of which are highly uncertain. Actions we have taken or may take, or decisions we have made or may make, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic may result in the Company becoming a party to litigation claims and/or legal proceedings, including claims relating to our customers or team members getting ill after visiting or working in our stores and other facilities, which could consume significant financial and managerial resources, result in decreased demand for our products and injury to our reputation. We may also face further closure requirements and other operational restrictions with respect to some or all of our facilities for prolonged periods of time due to, among other factors, evolving and increasingly stringent governmental restrictions including public health directives, quarantine policies or social distancing measures. An extended period of ongoing disruption could materially affect our business, results of operations, access to sources of liquidity and financial condition.

Any failure to protect the integrity, security and use of sensitive or confidential data that we hold relating to us and our customers, team members and vendors, whether as a result of unauthorized disclosure, data loss or a breach of our information technology systems, could result in lost sales, fines and/or lawsuits, a loss of confidence in us, and harm to our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition.

The secure processing, maintenance, transmission and storage of our customer, team member, vendor and company data is critical to us, and we devote significant resources to protecting this data. We collect and store sensitive and confidential data, including our intellectual property and proprietary business information and that of our vendors, and personally identifiable information of our customers and team members, in our data centers and on our networks. Additionally, the success of our retail stores and online operations depends upon the secure transmission of confidential information, including the use of cashless payments. Our customers provide personal, payment card and gift card information to purchase products or services, enroll in promotional programs, apply for credit, register and make purchases on our website, or otherwise communicate and interact with us. We may share information about such persons with vendors that assist with performing certain aspects of our business.

We and our vendors rely on commercially available information technology security measures, including systems, software, tools, plans and monitoring to provide security for processing, maintenance, transmission and storage of our customer, team member, vendor and company data. Despite the security measures we and our vendors have in place, our facilities and information technology systems, and those of our third-party service providers, may be vulnerable to, and unable to detect and appropriately respond to, security breaches, cyber-security attacks by computer hackers, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors or other similar disruptions. Any security breach could compromise our networks and the data and confidential personal or business information stored there could be accessed, publicly disclosed, misappropriated, destroyed, lost or stolen. In addition, data and security breaches can also occur as a result of non-technical issues, including intentional or inadvertent breach by our team members or by persons with whom we have commercial relationships that result in the unauthorized release of confidential personal or business

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information. Any such breach, access, misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of confidential information, whether by us or our vendors, could attract a substantial amount of media attention, damage our relationships with our customers, team members and vendors and cause a loss of confidence in us, violate applicable privacy laws and obligations and expose us to costly government enforcement actions or private litigation and financial liability (possibly beyond the scope or limits of our insurance coverage), increase the costs we incur to protect against or remediate such breaches and comply with consumer protection and data privacy laws and obligations or disrupt our operations and distract our management and other key personnel from performing their primary operational duties, any of which could adversely affect our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition.

Despite our security measures, it is possible that computer hackers or other parties might defeat these security measures and obtain sensitive or confidential data that we hold relating to us and our customers, team members and vendors. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems, change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, and we may not have the resources or technical sophistication to anticipate or prevent rapidly evolving types of cyber-attacks. Actual or anticipated attacks could require that we expend significant resources related to our information systems and infrastructure and could subject us to additional legal and financial risks, including increased investments in protection technologies, costs to deploy additional personnel, train team members and engage third-party experts and consultants, costs of compliance with privacy laws and obligations, expenses associated with providing our customers with credit protection and potential fees and penalties from our credit card processing partners, any of which could adversely affect our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition.

A significant portion of the merchandise that we sell is manufactured in foreign countries, including China, which exposes us to various international risks that could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

A significant portion of the merchandise that we sell, including merchandise we purchase from domestic suppliers and much of our owned brand merchandise, is manufactured in countries such as China, Vietnam, El Salvador and Bangladesh. Foreign imports subject us to the risks of changes in import duties, quotas, loss of “most favored nation” status with the United States for a particular foreign country, delays in shipment, shipping port and ocean carrier constraints, supply and demand constraints, labor strikes, work stoppages or other disruptions, freight cost increases and economic uncertainties (including the United States imposing anti-dumping or countervailing duty orders, tariffs, safeguards, remedies or compensation and retaliation due to illegal foreign trade practices). To the extent that any foreign manufacturers from whom we purchase products directly or indirectly employ labor, environmental, corruption, workplace safety, or other business practices that vary from those commonly accepted in the United States, we could be hurt by any resulting negative publicity or, in some cases, potential claims of liability. Merchandise or raw materials purchased from alternative sources may be of lesser quality or more expensive than the merchandise or raw materials we currently purchase abroad. If any of these or other factors were to cause a disruption of trade from the countries in which our suppliers are located, our inventory levels may be reduced or the costs of our merchandise may increase.

The political, health, safety, security, and economic environments of the countries in which we or our vendors obtain merchandise or raw materials have the potential to materially affect our operations. In the event of disruptions or delays in supply due to economic, political, health, safety or security conditions in foreign countries or their relations with the United States, such disruptions or delays could adversely affect our results of operations unless and until alternative supply arrangements could be made. Also, the imposition of trade tariffs, sanctions or other regulations against merchandise imported by us, or the loss of “normal trade relations” status with the countries in which we or our vendors obtain merchandise or raw materials, could significantly increase our cost of products imported into the United States and harm our business. The prices charged for the merchandise that we purchase by foreign manufacturers may be affected by the fluctuation of their local currency against the U.S. dollar.

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In addition, the federal government periodically considers other restrictions on the importation of products obtained by our vendors and us. If the United States were to withdraw from or materially modify any international trade agreements to which it is a party, or if tariffs were raised on the foreign-sourced goods that we sell, or if border taxes were implemented, then the goods we import may no longer be available at a commercially attractive price or at all, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

A significant amount of our merchandise is produced in China, and increases in the costs of labor and other costs of doing business in China could significantly increase our costs to produce our merchandise and could have a negative impact on our net sales, operating income and net income. Factors that could negatively affect our business include a potential significant revaluation of the Chinese Yuan, which may result in an increase in the cost of producing products in China, labor shortages and increases in labor costs in China, and difficulties in moving products manufactured in China through the ports on the western coast of North America, whether due to port congestion, labor disputes, product regulations and/or inspections or other factors, and natural disasters or health pandemics impacting China.

General trade tensions between the United States and China began escalating in 2018, with multiple rounds of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods taking effect. Recently, the Trump administration imposed multiple rounds of tariffs on imports from China, where we and many of our vendors source commodities. As a result, we have experienced rising inventory costs on owned brand products we directly source from China, as well as national brand products from China that we source through our vendors. These higher inventory costs have resulted in higher prices and/or lower margins, thus resulting in a negative impact to sales and/or gross margin. Additionally, these tariffs have resulted in and could result in further retaliatory tariff actions by China and could ultimately result in further tariffs on merchandise that we, and many of our vendors, import from China. These tariffs could have an adverse or material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If any of these events continue as described, we may need to seek alternative suppliers or vendors, raise prices, or make changes to our operations, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability, results of operations and financial condition. On January 15, 2020, President Trump signed Phase I of a new trade agreement with China, signaling potential cooperation and resolution between the two countries in 2020 to the ongoing trade war. However, as of our report date, no significant modifications have been enacted relative to the escalated tariffs which impact our business.

We are subject to costs and risks associated with laws and regulations affecting our business, including those relating to the sale, manufacture and import of consumer products and other matters, and such laws may change or become more stringent.

We operate in a complex regulatory and legal environment that exposes us to regulatory, compliance and litigation risks that could materially affect our operations and financial results. We are subject to regulation by numerous federal, state and local regulatory agencies and authorities, including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Justice, Department of Treasury, Federal Trade Commission, Customs and Border Protection, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, SEC, Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, and Environmental Protection Agency and comparable state and local agencies.

Laws and regulations affecting our business may change, sometimes frequently and significantly, as a result of political, economic, social or other events. Some of the federal, state or local laws and regulations that affect us include but are not limited to:

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We sell firearms, ammunition, and related accessories. Firearms represented less than 6% of our net sales in 2019. Numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations govern the procurement, transportation, storage, distribution and sale and marketing of firearms, ammunition, and related accessories, including the regulations governing the performance of federally and state mandated procedures for determining customer firearm purchase eligibility (such as age and residency verification, background checks and proper completion of required paperwork). In the future, there may be increased federal, state or local regulation affecting the sale of firearms, ammunition, and related accessories, including taxation or restrictions on the type of firearms and ammunition available for retail sale, which could reduce our sales and profitability. A failure by us to follow these laws or regulations may subject us to claims, lawsuits, fines, penalties, adverse publicity and government action (up to and including the possible revocation of licenses and permits allowing the sale of firearms and ammunition), which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Another significant risk relating to our operations is compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act, or UKBA, and other anti-corruption laws applicable to our international operations. In many foreign countries, particularly in those with developing economies, it may be a local custom that businesses operating in such countries engage in bribery and other business practices that are prohibited by the FCPA, the UKBA or other U.S. and foreign laws and regulations applicable to us.

We have internal policies, procedures and standards that we require all of our team members, agents and vendors to meet. Although we have implemented policies, procedures and standards of conduct designed to ensure compliance with the laws or regulations affecting our business, there can be no assurance that all of our team members, agents and vendors will comply with such laws, policies, procedures and standards of conduct. If we or one of our domestic or foreign agents or vendors fails to comply with a law or regulation, including any of the foregoing laws or regulations, or if we or one of our domestic or foreign agents or vendors fails to comply with our required policies, procedures or standards of conduct, then we may be forced to discontinue conducting business with the agent or vendor and we or they may be subject to claims, lawsuits, fines, penalties, loss of a license or permit and adverse publicity or other consequences that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We are, and may in the future, be subject to claims, demands and lawsuits, and our insurance or indemnities may not be sufficient to cover damages related to those claims and lawsuits.

From time to time we may be involved in lawsuits, demands or other claims arising in the ordinary course of business. For example, we are, and may in the future, be subject to claims, demands and lawsuits, and we may suffer losses and adverse effects to our reputation, related to:

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We sell firearms, ammunition, and related accessories. These products are associated with an increased risk of injury and related lawsuits with respect to our compliance with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and state laws and regulations. Any improper or illegal use by our customers of firearms, ammunition, or related accessories sold by us could have a negative impact on our reputation and business. We may be subjected to claims and lawsuits, including potential class actions, relating to our policies and practices on the sale of firearms, ammunition, or related accessories. We are, and may in the future also be, subjected to claims and lawsuits relating to the improper use of firearms, ammunition, or related accessories sold by us, including lawsuits by victims or municipalities or other organizations attempting to recover losses or costs from manufacturers and retailers of firearms, ammunition, and related accessories.

Due to the inherent uncertainties of claims and lawsuits, we cannot accurately predict the ultimate outcome of any such matters. These claims and lawsuits could cause us to incur significant expenses and devote

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substantial resources to defend against them and, in some cases, we could incur significant losses in the form of settlements, judgments, fines, penalties, injunctions or other orders, as well as negative publicity, that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even if a claim is unsuccessful or is not fully pursued, the negative publicity surrounding any such assertions could adversely affect our reputation.

To offset negative insurance market trends, we may elect to self-insure, accept higher insurance deductibles or reduce the amount of insurance coverage in response to market changes. Additionally, we self-insure a portion of expected losses under our workers’ compensation, general liability, Academy, Ltd. Texas Work Injury Benefit Plan, and group health insurance programs. We use the services of independent actuaries for loss adjustment expense reserve analyses for the aforementioned lines of insurance. Liabilities associated with these lines of insurance are based on actual claim data and estimates of incurred but not reported claims, developed using actuarial methodologies, and may be based on historical claim trends, industry factors, claim development, as well as other actuarial assumptions. Unanticipated changes in any applicable actuarial assumptions and management estimates underlying our recorded liabilities for these losses, variability in inflation rates, changes in the nature and method of claims settlement, benefit level changes due to changes in applicable laws, insolvency of insurance carriers, and changes in discount rates could result in materially different expenses than expected under these programs, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We require many of our vendors to carry their own insurance, and we have indemnity agreements with many of our vendors, but we cannot be assured that (1) any specific claim or lawsuit will be subject to a vendor’s insurance or indemnity agreement, (2) our vendors will meet their indemnity obligations or (3) we will be able to collect payments from our vendors sufficient to offset liability losses or, in the case of our owned brand products, where almost all of the manufacturing occurs outside the United States, that we will be able to collect anything at all. Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation and other claims, we cannot accurately predict the ultimate outcome of any such matters.

Any insurance we carry, including the aforementioned insurance coverage, reflects deductibles, self-insured retentions, limits of liability and similar provisions that we believe are prudent based on our operations. With all claims and lawsuits, however, there is a risk that liabilities, fines and losses may not be covered by insurance or may exceed insurance coverage. We also may be unable to procure insurance in the future at the coverage levels, terms or rates available to us today, and we cannot be guaranteed that our insurance at the time will be adequate for any particular claim or lawsuit.

Harm to our reputation could adversely impact our ability to attract and retain customers, team members, vendors and/or other partners.

Negative publicity or perceptions involving us or our brands, products, team members, operations, vendors, spokespersons, or marketing and other partners may negatively impact our reputation and adversely impact our ability to attract and retain customers, team members, vendors and/or other partners. Failure to detect, prevent or mitigate issues that might give rise to reputational risk or failure to adequately address negative publicity or perceptions could adversely impact our reputation, business, results of operations, and financial condition. Issues that might pose a reputational risk include failure of our cybersecurity measures to protect against data breaches, product liability and product recalls, our social media activity, failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations, our policies related to the sale of firearms, ammunition and accessories, public stances on controversial social or political issues, and any of the other risks enumerated in these risk factors. As part of our marketing efforts, we rely on social media platforms and other digital marketing to attract and retain customers. A variety of risks are associated with our social media activity and digital marketing, including the improper disclosure of proprietary information, negative comments about or negative incidents regarding us, exposure of personally identifiable information, fraud or out-of-date information. The inappropriate use of social media and digital marketing vehicles by us, our customers, team members or others could increase our costs, lead to

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litigation or result in negative publicity that could damage our reputation. Many social media platforms immediately publish the content, videos and/or photographs created or uploaded by their subscribers and participants, often without filters or checks on accuracy of the content posted. Information posted on such platforms at any time may be adverse to our interests and/or may be inaccurate. The dissemination of negative information related to us or our brands, products, team members, operations, vendors, spokespersons or partners could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition, regardless of the information’s accuracy, and the harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. Furthermore, the prevalence of news coverage, the internet, and social media may accelerate and increase the potential scope of any negative publicity we might receive and could increase the negative impact of these issues on our reputation, business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Problems with operating, updating or implementing our information technology systems could disrupt our operations and negatively impact our business operations and materially and adversely affect our financial results.

The efficient operation of our business is dependent on the successful integration and operation of our information technology systems. For examples, we rely on our information technology systems to effectively manage our merchandise planning and replenishment, warehousing and distribution, store operations, e-commerce, and customer transactions, optimize our overall inventory levels, process financial information and sales transactions, prevent data breaches and credit card fraud, communications, support services, and comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

Our information technology systems, if not functioning properly, could disrupt our ability to track, record, and analyze sales and inventory and could cause disruptions of operations, including, among other things, our ability to order, process and ship inventory, process financial information including credit card transactions, prevent data breaches and credit card fraud, process payrolls or vendor payments or engage in other similar normal business activities. Our information systems, including our back-up systems, are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, worms, other malicious computer programs, denial-of-service attacks, security breaches (through cyber-attacks from cyber-attackers or sophisticated organizations), catastrophic events such as fires, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes, and usage errors by our associates. Although we attempt to mitigate the risk of possible business interruptions by employing customary strategies, any material disruption, malfunction or any other similar problem in or with our information technology systems could negatively impact our business operations and materially and adversely affect our financial results.

From time to time, our computer and information technology systems may require upgrade, enhancement, integration and/or replacement for us to maintain successful current operations and achieve future sales and store growth.

Updating our existing information technology systems subjects us to numerous risks, including:

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Any failure to successfully update our information technology systems, and any missteps, delays, cost overruns, vendor disputes, technical challenges or other similar issues that may arise during the updating of our information technology systems, could have a material impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, internal controls over financial reporting and ability to manage our business effectively.

From time to time, we may undertake initiatives involving numerous information technology systems, including our merchandise management, warehouse management, point of sale, e-commerce, data security, and credit card fraud detection systems. While each of these information technology systems initiatives is intended to further improve and enhance our information technology systems, our failure to timely, properly or adequately implement these systems initiatives could result in increased costs or risks, the diversion of our management’s and team members’ attention and resources and could materially adversely affect our results of operations, our internal controls over financial reporting or general computer controls, our ability to manage our business effectively and possible disruption of our business operations or financial reporting.

We depend on approximately 1,300 suppliers to supply us with the merchandise we purchase for resale and our significant dependence on these suppliers exposes us to risks associated with disruption in supply and losses of merchandise purchasing incentives that could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We depend on approximately 1,300 suppliers to supply us in a timely and efficient manner with the merchandise we purchase for resale. Our significant dependence on these suppliers exposes us to various risks that could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In 2019, purchases from our largest vendor represented approximately 14% of our total inventory purchases. The merchandise we sell is sourced from a wide variety of domestic and international suppliers and our ability to find qualified suppliers and access merchandise in a timely and efficient manner is often challenging, particularly with respect to merchandise sourced outside the United States. We generally do not have long-term written contracts with our suppliers that would require them to continue supplying us with merchandise, particular payment terms or the extension of credit. As a result, these suppliers could modify the terms of these relationships due to general economic conditions or otherwise. If there is a disruption in supply from a principal supplier (which can occur for various reasons in or out of the control of these suppliers, including the measures taken by the Chinese government in response to the recent COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak), we may experience merchandise out-of-stocks, delivery delays or increased delivery costs, or otherwise be unable to obtain the same merchandise from other suppliers in a timely and efficient manner and on acceptable terms, or at all, which could have a material affect our results of operations and our customers’ confidence in us. Changes in our relationships with our suppliers (which can occur for various reasons in or out of our control) also have the potential to increase our expenses and adversely affect our results of operations. The formation and/or strengthening of business partnerships between our suppliers and our competitors could directly alter the available supply of merchandise we desire to sell, which could have a material adverse effect on the level of customers purchasing merchandise from us and, thus, our results of operations. Moreover, many of our suppliers provide us with merchandise purchasing incentives, such as return privileges, volume purchasing allowances and cooperative advertising, and a decline or discontinuation of these incentives could severely impact our results of operations.

A failure of our third-party vendors of outsourced business services and solutions to meet our performance standards and expectations could adversely affect our operations.

We outsource certain business services and solutions, and rely on the third-party vendors of these business services and solutions, to support a variety of our business functions, including portions of our information

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technology and management information systems, data security and credit card fraud detection, supply chain (including product manufacturers, logistics service providers or independent distributors), retail operations, administrative services and other core business functions. If we fail to properly manage these vendors or if they fail to meet, or are prevented from meeting, our performance standards and expectations, then our reputation, sales, and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, we could face increased costs associated with finding replacement service vendors or hiring new team members to provide these business services and solutions in-house.

We may not be able to continue our store growth plans successfully or continue to manage our growth effectively, and our new stores may not generate sales levels necessary to achieve store-level sales or profitability comparable to that of our existing stores, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our strategy includes opening stores in existing markets and, from time to time, new markets. We must successfully choose our store sites, execute favorable real estate transactions on terms that are acceptable to us, construct and equip the stores with furnishings and appropriate merchandise, hire and train competent personnel and effectively open and operate these new stores and integrate the stores into our operations, and we may need to expand our distribution infrastructure, including the addition of new distribution centers. Our plans to increase our number of retail stores will depend in part on the availability of existing retail stores or store sites. A lack of available financing on terms acceptable to real estate developers or a tightening credit market may adversely affect the retail sites available to us. We cannot expect that stores or sites will be available to us, or that they will be available on terms acceptable to us. If additional retail store sites are unavailable on acceptable terms, we may not be able to carry out a significant part of our growth strategy. Rising real estate costs and acquisition, construction and development costs, available credit to landlords and developers and landlord bankruptcies could also inhibit our ability to grow. If we fail to locate desirable sites, obtain lease rights to these sites on terms acceptable to us, hire adequate personnel and open and effectively operate these new stores, our financial performance could be adversely affected.

We lease our stores under operating leases with terms of 15 to 20 years, and we generally cannot cancel these leases at our option. If a store is not profitable, and we decide to close it, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term. Similarly, we may be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable leases even if current locations of our stores become unattractive as demographic patterns change. In addition, as each of our leases expire, we may fail to negotiate renewals, either on commercially acceptable terms or at all, which could require us to close stores in desirable locations.

In addition, our expansion in new and existing markets may present competitive, merchandising, marketing, human resources, distribution and regulatory challenges that differ from our current challenges, including competition among our stores, diminished novelty of our store design and concept, added strain on our distribution centers, maintaining our levels of customer service, training our store team members, additional information to be processed by our management information systems and diversion of our management’s attention from operations, such as the control of inventory levels in our stores. New stores in new markets, where we are less familiar with the target customer and less well-known by the target customer, may face different or additional risks and increased costs compared to stores operated in existing markets or new stores in existing markets. Expansion into new markets could also bring us into direct competition with retailers with whom we have no past experience as direct competitors. To the extent that we become increasingly reliant on entry into new markets to grow, we may face additional risks and our results of operations could suffer. To the extent that we are not able to meet new challenges, our sales could decrease and our operating costs could increase.

There also can be no assurance that we will be able to continue our expansion plans successfully or continue to manage our growth effectively, or that our new stores will generate sales levels necessary to achieve store-level profitability or profitability comparable to that of our existing stores. Our continued growth also depends, in

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large part, upon our ability to open new stores in a timely manner and to operate them profitably. A slower than expected pace of new store openings may negatively impact our net sales growth and operating income. New stores also may face greater competition and have lower anticipated sales volumes relative to previously opened stores during their comparable years of operation. We may not be able to advertise cost-effectively in new or large markets in which we have less store density, which could slow sales growth at such stores. We also cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain and distribute adequate product supplies to our new stores or maintain adequate warehousing and distribution capability to support our new stores at acceptable costs. Thus, our failure to achieve our expansion plans could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our e-commerce activities expose us to various risks that could have a material adverse impact on our overall results of operations.

Our customers are increasingly using computers, tablets, mobile phones and other devices to shop in our stores and on-line for our products. Our business has become increasingly omnichannel as we strive to deliver a seamless shopping experience to our customers through both online and in-store shopping experiences. We utilize our own e-commerce platform that allows us to control our customer experience without relying on a single third-party provider. Maintaining and continuing to improve our e-commerce platform involves substantial investment of capital and resources, integrating a number of information and management systems from different vendors, increasing supply chain and distribution capabilities, attracting, developing and retaining qualified personnel with relevant subject matter expertise, and effectively managing and improving the customer experience. Our e-commerce operations are subject to numerous risks that could have a material adverse impact on our overall results of operations, including:

Our e-commerce activities also carry challenges such as identifying our e-commerce customer, marketing our website, establishing a profitable on-line merchandising mix, managing shipping costs to our customers, setting prices to compete against other on-line retailers, maintaining website content, timely and accurately fulfilling orders, integrating our e-commerce business with our store operations, and growing the operation as part of our overall strategic plan. If we do not successfully manage the risks and navigate the challenges associated with our e-commerce activities, it could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

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Further, governmental regulation of e-commerce continues to evolve in such areas as marketing and advertising, taxation, privacy, data protection and privacy, pricing, content, copyrights, distribution, mobile communications, electronic contracts and other communications, consumer protection, the provision of online payment services, the design and operation of websites and the characteristics and quality of products and services. Unfavorable changes to regulations in these areas could have a material adverse impact on our e-commerce activities.

Our owned brand merchandise exposes us to various risks generally encountered by companies that source, manufacture, market and retail exclusive owned brand merchandise.

In addition to national brand merchandise, we offer customers owned brand merchandise that is not available in other stores. The sale of owned brand merchandise subjects us to certain risks, including:

Our failure to adequately address some or all of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

A disruption in the operation of our distribution centers would affect our ability to deliver merchandise to either our stores or customers, which could adversely impact our revenues and harm our business and financial results.

We operate three distribution centers located in Katy, Texas, Twiggs County, Georgia, and Cookeville, Tennessee. We receive and ship substantially all of our merchandise through our distribution centers. Any natural or man-made disaster in the areas or regions of these facilities (for example, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, explosions, or fires) could damage a portion of our inventory and any serious disruption to these facilities or their staffs (including due to any widespread health emergencies) could impair our ability to adequately stock our stores, process returns of products to vendors and ship product to our e-commerce customers, thereby adversely

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affecting our sales and profitability. In addition, we could incur significantly higher costs and longer lead times associated with distributing our products to our stores and customers during the time it takes for us to reopen or replace these distribution centers.

Our quarterly operating results and comparable sales may fluctuate due to seasonality and other factors outside of our control.

We have historically experienced and expect to continue to experience seasonal fluctuations in our net sales, operating income and net income. A significant portion of our net sales and profits is driven by summer holidays, such as Memorial Day, Father’s Day and Independence Day, during the second quarter. Our net sales and profits are also impacted by the November/December holiday selling season, and in part by the sales of cold weather sporting goods and apparel during the fourth quarter. If we miscalculate the demand for our products generally or for our product mix during certain holiday or sporting seasons, our net sales could decline resulting in lower margins, higher labor costs as a percentage of sales and excess inventory, which would harm our financial performance.

Our quarterly results of operations and comparable sales have historically fluctuated, and may continue to fluctuate, as a result of factors outside our control, including:

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Our quarterly operating results and comparable sales may also be affected by the timing of new store openings and the relative proportion of new stores to mature stores, the level of pre-opening expenses associated with new stores and the amount and timing of net sales contributed by new stores. Furthermore, our operating margins may be impacted in periods in which incremental expenses are incurred as a result of upcoming new store openings.

The occurrence of severe weather events, catastrophic health events, natural or man-made disasters, social and political conditions or civil unrest could significantly damage or destroy our retail locations, could prohibit consumers from traveling to our retail locations or could prevent us from resupplying or staffing our stores or distribution centers or fulfilling out e-commerce orders, especially during peak shopping seasons.

Unforeseen events, including public health issues such as contagious viruses, natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, snow or ice storms, floods and heavy rains, and man-made disasters such as an oil spill closing large areas of hunting or fishing, could disrupt our operations or the operations of our suppliers, as well as the behavior of our consumers. For example, frequent or unusually heavy snowfall, ice storms, rainstorms or other extreme weather conditions over a prolonged period could make it difficult for our customers to travel to our stores and thereby reduce our sales and profitability. In addition, extreme weather conditions could result in disruption or delay of production and delivery of materials and products in our supply chain and cause staffing shortages in our stores. Socio-political factors, such as civil unrest or other economic or political uncertainties that contribute to consumer unease or harm to our store base, may also result in decreased discretionary spending, property damage and/or business interruption losses. For example, we may face losses related to the civil unrest in the United States that began in late May 2020 in response to reported incidents of police violence. To the extent these events result in the closure of one or more of our distribution centers, a significant number of stores, or our corporate headquarters or impact one or more of our key suppliers, our operations and financial performance could be materially adversely affected through an inability to support our business, resupply or staff our stores, distribution centers or corporate headquarters or fulfill our e-commerce orders, especially during peak shopping seasons, and through lost sales. We believe that we take reasonable precautions to prepare particularly for unforeseen catastrophic or weather-related events; however, our precautions may not be adequate to deal with such events in the future. As these events occur in the future, if they should impact areas in which we have our corporate headquarters, a distribution centers or a concentration of retail stores or vendor sources, such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our failure to protect our intellectual property or avoid the infringement of third-party intellectual property rights could be costly and have a negative impact on our results of operations.

Our trademarks, service marks, copyrights, patents, processes, trade secrets, domain names and other intellectual property, including our Academy Sports + Outdoors brand, our owned brands, such as Academy Sports + Outdoors, Magellan Outdoors, BCG, O’rageous and Outdoor Gourmet, and our goodwill, designs, names, slogans, images and trade dress associated with these brands, are valuable assets that are critical to our success. The unauthorized use or other misappropriation of our intellectual property could diminish the value of our brands or goodwill and cause a decline in our sales. In addition, any infringement or other intellectual property claim made by or against us, whether or not it has merit, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, cause product delays, cause us to discontinue affected products, distract key resources from our core business or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. As a result, any such claim made by or against us or our failure to protect our intellectual property could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

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Our business is significantly dependent on our ability to meet our labor needs.

The success of our business depends significantly on our ability to hire and retain quality team members, including store managers, Enthusiasts and other store team members, distribution center team members, and corporate directors, managers and other personnel. We plan to expand our team member base to manage our anticipated growth. Competition for non-entry-level personnel, particularly for team members with retail experience, is highly competitive. Additionally, our ability to maintain consistency in the quality of customer service in our stores is critical to our success. Many of our store team members are in entry-level or part-time positions that historically have high rates of turnover. We are also dependent on the team members who staff our distribution centers, many of whom are skilled. We may be unable to meet our labor needs and control our costs due to external factors such as the availability of a sufficient number of qualified persons in the work force of the markets in which we operate, unemployment levels, demand for certain labor expertise, prevailing wage rates, wage inflation, changing demographics, health and other insurance costs, adoption of new or revised employment and labor laws and regulations, and the impacts of man-made or natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, various legislative movements have sought to increase the federal minimum wage in the United States, as well as the minimum wage in a number of individual states. As federal or state minimum wage rates increase, we may need to increase not only the wage rates of our minimum wage team members, but also the wages paid to our other hourly team members as well. Further, should we fail to increase our wages competitively in response to increasing wage rates, the quality of our workforce could decline, causing our customer service to suffer. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed rules that may have salary and wage impact for “exempt” team members, which could result in a substantial increase in store payroll expense. Any increase in the cost of our labor could have an adverse effect on our operating costs, financial condition and results of operations. If we are unable to hire and retain store-level team members capable of providing a high level of customer service, skilled distribution center team members or other qualified personnel, our business could be materially adversely affected.

Although none of our team members are currently covered under collective bargaining agreements, we cannot guarantee that our team members will not elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. If some or our entire workforce were to become unionized and collective bargaining agreement terms were significantly different from our current compensation arrangements or work practice, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our stores are located primarily in the southern United States which could subject us to regional risks.

Because our stores are located primarily in the southern United States, we are subject to regional risks, such as the regional economy, weather conditions and natural disasters such as floods, droughts, tornadoes and hurricanes. Man-made disasters, such as an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a nuclear power plant crisis or other events, may also impact our regional area. We sell a significant amount of merchandise related to outdoor activities which can be adversely affected by such events that may postpone the start of or shorten sports seasons or inhibit participation in other outdoor activities or otherwise have a significant impact on our operations. Several of our competitors operate stores across the United States and thus are not as vulnerable to the risks of operating in one region. If a region of our stores’ footprint suffers an economic downturn or any other adverse regional event, there could be an adverse impact on our net sales and results of operations and our ability to implement our planned expansion program.

Fluctuations in merchandise costs and availability due to fuel price uncertainty, demand changes, increases in commodity prices, labor shortages and other factors could negatively impact our consolidated and combined results of operations.

The cost of our merchandise is affected, in part, by the price of raw materials. A substantial rise in the price of raw materials could dramatically increase the costs associated with manufacturing the merchandise that we purchase from our suppliers, which could cause the price of our merchandise to increase and could have a

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negative impact on our sales and profitability. In addition, increases in commodity prices could also adversely affect our results of operations. If we increase the price for our products in order to maintain gross margins for our products, such increase may adversely affect demand for, and sales of, our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We rely upon various means of transportation, including ships and trucks, to deliver products from vendors to our distribution centers and from our distribution centers to our stores. Consequently, our results can vary depending upon numerous factors affecting transportation, including the price of fuel and the availability of trucks and ships. The price of fuel and demand for transportation services has fluctuated significantly over the last few years, and has resulted in increased costs for us and our vendors. In addition, changes in regulations may result in higher fuel costs through taxation, transportation restrictions or other means. Fluctuations in transportation costs and availability could adversely affect our results of operations.

Labor shortages in the transportation industry could negatively affect transportation costs and our ability to supply our stores in a timely manner. In particular, our business is highly dependent on the shipping and trucking industry to deliver products to our distribution centers and our stores. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if we, or our vendors, are unable to secure adequate transportation resources at competitive prices to fulfill our delivery schedules to our distribution centers or our stores.

Difficulties in moving products manufactured overseas and through the ports of North America, whether due to port congestion, government shutdowns, labor disputes, product regulations and/or inspections or other factors, including natural disasters or health pandemics, could negatively affect our business.

If we are unable to manage the growth of our business, our revenues may not increase as anticipated, our cost of operations may rise and our results of operations may decline.

As our business grows, we will face many risks associated with growing companies, including the risk that our management, financial controls, staff levels, and information systems will be inadequate to support our expansion in the future. Our growth will require our management to expend significant time and effort and additional resources to ensure the continuing adequacy of our associate staff levels, financial controls, operating procedures, information systems, product purchasing, warehousing and distribution systems and team member training programs. We cannot predict whether we will be able to effectively manage these increased demands or respond on a timely basis to the changing demands that our expansion will impose on our management, financial controls and information systems. If we fail to manage successfully the challenges of growth, do not continue to improve these systems and controls or encounter unexpected difficulties during expansion, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

The loss of our key executives could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our future success depends on the continued services of our senior executive management. Any loss or interruptions of the services of our senior executive management could significantly reduce our ability to effectively manage our operations and implement our key initiatives because we may not be able to timely recruit appropriate replacements for our senior executive management should the need arise. If we were to lose any key senior executive management, our business could be materially adversely affected.

We may pursue strategic acquisitions, which could have an adverse impact on our business, as could assimilation of companies following acquisition.

Although we have never done so in the past, we may from time to time acquire companies or businesses in the future. Acquisitions may result in difficulties in assimilating acquired companies, and may result in the diversion of our capital and our management’s attention from other business issues and opportunities. We may not be able to successfully integrate companies or businesses that we acquire, including their personnel, financial

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systems, distribution, operations and general store opening procedures. If we fail to successfully integrate acquisitions, our business could suffer. In addition, the integration of any acquired business and their financial results may adversely affect our results of operations.

We are subject to payment-related risks.

For our sales to our customers, we accept a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, electronic funds transfers and electronic payment systems. Accordingly, we are, and will continue to be, subject to significant and evolving regulations and compliance requirements, including obligations to implement enhanced authentication processes that could result in increased costs and liability, and reduce the ease of use of certain payment methods. For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, as well as electronic payment systems, we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time. We rely on independent service providers for payment processing, including credit and debit cards. If these independent service providers become unwilling or unable to provide these services to us or if the cost of using these providers increases, our business could be harmed. We are also subject to payment card association operating rules and agreements, including data security rules and agreements, certification requirements and rules governing electronic funds transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, or if our data security systems are breached or compromised, we may be liable for losses incurred by card issuing banks or customers, subject to fines and higher transaction fees, lose our ability to accept credit or debit card payments from our customers, or process electronic fund transfers or facilitate other types of payments. Any failure to comply could harm our brand, reputation, business and results of operations.

Our success depends on the effectiveness of our marketing and advertising programs.

Brand marketing and advertising significantly affect sales at our locations, as well as e-commerce sales. Our marketing and advertising programs may not be successful, which may prevent us from attracting new customers and retaining existing customers. If sales decline, we will have fewer funds available for marketing and advertising, which could materially and adversely affect our revenues, business and results of operations. As part of our marketing efforts, we rely on print, television and radio advertisements, as well as search engine marketing, web advertisements, social media platforms and other digital marketing to attract and retain customers. These efforts may not be successful, resulting in expenses incurred without the benefit of higher revenues or increased customer or team member engagement. Customers are increasingly using internet sites and social media to inform their purchasing decisions and to compare prices, product assortment, and feedback from other customers about quality, responsiveness and customer service before purchasing our services and products. If we are unable to continue to develop successful marketing and advertising strategies, especially for online and social media platforms, or if our competitors develop more effective strategies, we could lose customers and sales could decline.

Risks Related to Our Indebtedness

Our high level of indebtedness requires that we dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows to debt service payments and reduces the funds that would otherwise be available for other general corporate purposes and other business opportunities, which could adversely affect our operating performance, growth, profitability and financial condition, which in turn could make it more difficult for us to generate cash flow sufficient to satisfy all of our obligations under our indebtedness.

As of August 1, 2020, we had approximately $1.4 billion outstanding under the Term Loan Facility. As of August 1, 2020, we had no borrowings outstanding under the ABL Facility, an available borrowing capacity under the ABL Facility of approximately $694.1 million (which is subject to customary borrowing conditions, including a borrowing base), and outstanding letters of credit of $29.7 million, $19.9 million of which were issued under the ABL Facility.

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Our overall level of indebtedness requires that we dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows to debt service payments. The Term Loan Facility requires quarterly principal and cash interest payments through June 30, 2022. The ABL Facility matures on May 22, 2023, subject to a springing maturity clause which is triggered 91 days before the July 2, 2022 maturity of the Term Loan Facility should it not be paid off or extended at least 91 days beyond the May 22, 2023 maturity date of the ABL Facility.

Our substantial indebtedness reduces the funds that would otherwise be available for operations, future business opportunities and payments of our debt obligations and limits our ability to:

These limitations could adversely affect our operating performance, growth, profitability and financial condition, which would make it more difficult for us to generate cash flow sufficient to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on our debt obligations also depends on our financial condition, results of operations and capital resources, which are subject to, among other things: the business, financial, economic, industry, competitive, regulatory and other factors discussed in these risk factors, and on other factors, some of which are beyond our control, including: the level of capital expenditures we make, including those for acquisitions, if any; our debt service requirements; fluctuations in our working capital needs; our ability to borrow funds and access capital markets; and restrictions on debt service payments and our ability to make working capital borrowings for debt service payments contained in our debt instruments.

If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to permit us to make scheduled service payments on our debt, then we will be in default and holders of that debt could declare all outstanding principal and interest to be due and payable. If our existing indebtedness were to be accelerated, there can be no assurance that we would have, or be able to obtain, sufficient funds to repay such indebtedness in full. In addition, in the event of a default, the lenders under the ABL Facility could terminate their further commitments to loan money and our secured lenders under the Term Loan Facility and the ABL Facility could foreclose against the assets securing their borrowings, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

Despite our high level of indebtedness, we may still be able to incur substantially more debt, which could further increase the risks to our financial condition described above.

Despite our high level of indebtedness, we may be able to incur significant additional indebtedness in the future, including off-balance sheet financings, trade credit, contractual obligations and general and commercial liabilities. Although the credit agreements governing the Term Loan Facility and the ABL Facility contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions, and the additional indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. These restrictions also will not prevent us from incurring obligations that do not constitute

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indebtedness, and additionally we have further borrowing capacity under the ABL Facility. As of August 1, 2020, we had no borrowings outstanding under the ABL Facility, and an available borrowing capacity under the ABL Facility of approximately $694.1 million (which is subject to customary borrowing conditions, including a borrowing base). We may be able to increase the commitments under the ABL Facility by $250.0 million, subject to certain conditions. We may also be able to increase the capacity under the Term Loan Facility by up to $200.0 million plus an additional amount, subject to certain conditions, which borrowings would be secured indebtedness. The addition of new debt to our current debt levels could further exacerbate the related risks to our financial condition that we now face.

If we are unable to generate sufficient cash to service all of our indebtedness, we may be forced to take other actions to fund the satisfaction of our obligations under our indebtedness, which may not be successful.

If our cash flow is insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems and could be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures or to dispose of material assets or operations, raise additional debt or equity capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. However, we may not be able to implement any such alternative measures on commercially reasonable terms or at all and, even if successful, those alternative actions may not allow us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. Even if new financing were available, it may be on terms that are less attractive to us than our then existing indebtedness or it may not be on terms that are acceptable to us. In addition, the credit agreements governing the Term Loan Facility and the ABL Facility restrict our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from those dispositions and may also restrict our ability to raise debt or equity capital to be used to repay other indebtedness when it becomes due. Thus, we may not be able to consummate those dispositions or to obtain proceeds in an amount sufficient to meet any debt service obligations then due.

If we cannot generate sufficient cash flow to permit us to make scheduled payments on our debt, then we will be in default and holders of that debt could declare all outstanding principal and interest to be due and payable. If our existing indebtedness were to be accelerated, there can be no assurance that we would have, or be able to obtain, sufficient funds to repay such indebtedness in full. In addition, in the event of a default, the lenders under the ABL Facility could terminate their further commitments to loan money and our secured lenders under the Term Loan Facility and the ABL Facility could foreclose against the assets securing their borrowings and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

The terms of our outstanding indebtedness may restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes or to take certain actions.

The credit agreements governing the Term Loan Facility and the ABL Facility contain restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our best interest, including restrictions on our ability to:

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Additionally, at certain times, the ABL Facility requires maintenance of a certain minimum adjusted fixed charge coverage ratio. Our ability to comply with the covenants and restrictions contained in our credit agreements may be affected by events beyond our control. If market or other economic conditions deteriorate, our ability to comply with these covenants and restrictions may be impaired.

A breach of the covenants under one of these agreements could result in an event of default under the applicable indebtedness, which, if not cured or waived, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Such a default, if not cured or waived, may allow the creditors to accelerate the related debt principal and/or related interest payments and may result in the acceleration of any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. If our existing indebtedness were to be accelerated, there can be no assurance that we would have, or be able to obtain, sufficient funds to repay such indebtedness in full. In addition, an event of default under the credit agreements governing our Term Loan Facility and ABL Facility would permit the lenders under our ABL Facility to terminate all commitments to extend further credit under that facility. Furthermore, if we were unable to repay the amounts due and payable under our Term Loan Facility and ABL Facility, those lenders could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.

Borrowings under the Term Loan Facility and ABL Facility are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. If interest rates increase, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness will increase even though the amount borrowed will remain the same, and our net income and operating cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, will correspondingly decrease. We use interest rate swap agreements to hedge market risks relating to possible adverse changes in interest rates with the intent of reducing volatility in our cash flows due to fluctuations in interest rates. However, we may not maintain interest rate swaps with respect to all of our variable rate indebtedness, and any swaps we enter into may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk, may prove disadvantageous, or may create additional risks. In addition, our hedging activities are subject to the risks that a counterparty may not perform its obligations under the applicable derivative instrument.

LIBOR and other interest rates that are indices deemed to be “benchmarks” are the subject of recent and ongoing national, international and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. Some of these reforms are already effective, while others are still to be implemented. These reforms may cause such benchmarks to perform differently than in the past, or to disappear entirely, or have other consequences that cannot be predicted. Any such consequence could have a material adverse effect on our existing facilities, our interest rate swap agreement or our future debt linked to such a “benchmark” and our ability to service debt that bears interest at floating rates of interest.

If the financial institutions that are lenders under the ABL Facility fail to extend credit under the facility or reduce the borrowing base, our liquidity and results of operations may be adversely affected.

One of our sources of liquidity is the ABL Facility. Each financial institution that is a lender under the ABL Facility is responsible on a several but not joint basis for providing a portion of the loans to be made under the facility. If any participant or group of participants with a significant portion of the commitments under the ABL Facility fails to satisfy its or their respective obligations to extend credit under the facility and we are unable to find a replacement for such participant or participants on a timely basis (if at all), our liquidity may be adversely affected. In addition, the lenders under the ABL Facility may reduce the borrowing base under the facility in certain circumstances, which could adversely impact our liquidity and results of operations.

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Our high level of indebtedness may hinder our ability to negotiate favorable terms with our landlords, vendors and suppliers, which could negatively impact our operating performance and, thus, could make it more difficult for us to generate cash flow sufficient to satisfy all of our obligations under our indebtedness.

Our new store profitability is partially attributable to our ability to negotiate attractive rental rates with our landlords and to secure sale-leaseback financing at attractive cap rates. Our high level of indebtedness may adversely affect our credit profile or rating, which may adversely affect our ability to negotiate favorable rental rates for our new store locations or expiring existing store leases or secure sale-leaseback financing. This could negatively impact the profitability of new and existing stores and potentially limit the number of viable new store locations or replacement store locations for expiring store leases.

Our successful retail strategy is partially attributable to our ability to negotiate favorable trade terms with our vendors. Our high level of indebtedness may adversely affect our credit profile or rating, which may adversely affect our ability to negotiate favorable trade terms from our current or future merchandise vendors, including pricing, payment, delivery, inventory, transportation, defective and marketing allowances and other terms, and may increase our need to support merchandise purchases with letters of credit. We may also be unable to negotiate favorable trade terms for our current or future service and non-merchandise vendors, including vendors that assist us in critical aspects of the business such as real estate, transportation and logistics, customs, hazardous material and firearm compliance, warehousing and storage, insurance and risk management, procurement, marketing and advertising, store and online operations and information technology. This could negatively impact the profitability of our business and our ability to effectively compete against other retailers. Thus, our high level of indebtedness could adversely affect the profitability of our business, which could make it more difficult for us to generate cash flow sufficient to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness.

Risks Related to this Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock

We will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules of Nasdaq and the rules of the SEC and, as a result, qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of other companies that are subject to such requirements.

After completion of this offering and the application of net proceeds therefrom, KKR Stockholders will collectively beneficially own approximately    % of the voting power of common stock (or    % if the underwriters exercise in full their over-allotment option). As a result, we will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of Nasdaq. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirement that:

Following this offering, we intend to utilize these exemptions. As a result, we may not have a majority of independent directors, our compensation committee and nominating and governance committee may not consist entirely of independent directors. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.

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KKR Stockholders control us and their interests may conflict with yours in the future.

Immediately following this offering, KKR Stockholders will collectively beneficially own     % of the voting power of our common stock (or                 % if the underwriters exercise in full their over-allotment option). KKR Stockholders will be able to control the election and removal of our directors and thereby determine our corporate and management policies, including potential mergers or acquisitions, payment of dividends, asset sales, amendment of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws and other significant corporate transactions for so long as KKR Stockholders and their affiliates retain significant ownership of us. KKR Stockholders and their affiliates may also direct us to make significant changes to our business operations and strategy, including with respect to, among other things, store openings and closings, new product and service offerings, team member headcount levels and initiatives to reduce costs and expenses. This concentration of our ownership may delay or deter possible changes in control of the Company, which may reduce the value of an investment in our common stock. So long as KKR Stockholders continue to own a significant amount of our voting power, even if such amount is less than 50%, KKR Stockholders will continue to be able to strongly influence or effectively control our decisions and, so long as KKR Stockholders and their affiliates collectively own at least                 % of all outstanding shares of our stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, KKR Stockholders will be able to appoint individuals to our board of directors under the stockholders agreement that we expect to enter into in connection with this offering. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Stockholders Agreement.” The interests of KKR Stockholders may not coincide with the interests of other holders of our common stock.

In the ordinary course of their business activities, KKR Stockholders and their affiliates may engage in activities where their interests conflict with our interests or those of our stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation will provide that any of KKR Stockholders, any of their affiliates or any director who is not employed by us (including any non-employee director who serves as one of our officers in both his or her director and officer capacities) or his or her affiliates will not have any duty to refrain from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same business activities or similar business activities or lines of business in which we operate. KKR Stockholders and their affiliates also may pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. In addition, KKR Stockholders may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, divestitures and other transactions that, in their judgment, could enhance their investment, even though such transactions might involve risks to you.

In addition, KKR Stockholders and their affiliates will be able to determine the outcome of all matters requiring stockholder approval and will be able to cause or prevent a change of control of the Company or a change in the composition of our board of directors and could preclude any acquisition of the Company. This concentration of voting control could deprive you of an opportunity to receive a premium for your shares of common stock as part of a sale of the Company and ultimately might affect the market price of our common stock.

We will incur increased costs and become subject to additional regulations and requirements as a result of becoming a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance matters, which could lower our profits or make it more difficult to run our business.

As a public company, we will incur significant legal, regulatory, finance, accounting, investor relations, insurance, and other expenses that we have not incurred as a private company, including costs associated with public company reporting requirements and costs of recruiting and retaining non-executive directors. We also have incurred and will incur costs associated with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act, and related rules implemented by the SEC, and Nasdaq. The expenses incurred by public companies generally for reporting and corporate governance purposes have been increasing. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly, although we are currently unable to estimate these costs with any degree of certainty. Our management will need to devote a substantial amount of time to ensure

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that we comply with all of these requirements, diverting the attention of management away from revenue-producing activities. These laws and regulations also could make it more difficult or costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. These laws and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as our executive officers. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to delisting of our common stock, fines, sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation.

Failure to comply with requirements to design, implement and maintain effective internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

As a privately-held company, we were not required to evaluate our internal control over financial reporting in a manner that meets the standards of publicly traded companies required by Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404.

As a public company, we will have significant requirements for enhanced financial reporting and internal controls. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. If we are unable to establish or maintain appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations on a timely basis, result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements and harm our results of operations. In addition, we will be required, pursuant to Section 404, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in the second annual report following the completion of this offering. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation. Testing and maintaining internal controls may divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to our business.

In connection with the implementation of the necessary procedures and practices related to internal control over financial reporting, we may identify deficiencies that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the deadline imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. In addition, we may encounter problems or delays in completing the remediation of any deficiencies identified by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with the issuance of their attestation report. Our testing, or the subsequent testing (if required) by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses. Any material weaknesses could result in a material misstatement of our annual or quarterly consolidated financial statements or disclosures that may not be prevented or detected.

We may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 or our independent registered public accounting firm may not issue an unqualified opinion. If either we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting or our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an unqualified report, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

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There has been no prior public market for our common stock and there may not develop or continue an active, liquid trading market for shares of our common stock, which may cause shares of our common stock to trade at a discount from the initial offering price and make it difficult to sell the shares of common stock you purchase.

Prior to this offering, there has not been a public trading market for shares of our common stock. We cannot predict the extent to which investor interest in us will lead to the development of a trading market or how active and liquid that market may become. If an active and liquid trading market does not develop or continue, you may have difficulty selling your shares of our common stock at an attractive price or at all. If you purchase shares of our common stock in this offering, you will pay a price that was not established in a competitive market. Instead, the initial public offering price per share of common stock will be determined by agreement among us and the representative(s) of the underwriters, and may not be indicative of the price at which shares of our common stock will trade in the public market after this offering. The market price of our common stock may decline below the initial offering price and you may not be able to sell your shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid in this offering, or at all. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price you consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair market value of your shares. Furthermore, an inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital by selling shares of our common stock.

Our stock price may change significantly following this offering, and you may not be able to resell shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid or at all, and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.

Even if a trading market develops, the market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations. You may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price due to a number of factors such as those listed in “—Risks Related to Our Business” and the following:

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Furthermore, the stock market may experience extreme volatility that, in some cases, may be unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our common stock is low.

In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation against various issuers. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from our business regardless of the outcome of such litigation, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Investors in this offering will suffer immediate and substantial dilution.

The initial public offering price per share of common stock will be substantially higher than our pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) per share immediately after this offering. As a result, you will pay a price per share of common stock that substantially exceeds the per share book value of our tangible assets after subtracting our liabilities. In addition, you will pay more for your shares of common stock than the amounts paid by our existing owners. Assuming an initial public offering price of $                per share of common stock, which is the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution in an amount of $                per share of common stock. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option, you will experience additional dilution. See “Dilution.”

You may be diluted by the future issuance of additional common stock in connection with our incentive plans, acquisitions or otherwise.

After this offering we will have approximately         shares of common stock authorized but unissued. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to become effective immediately prior to the consummation of this offering will authorize us to issue these shares of common stock and options relating to common stock for the consideration and on the terms and conditions established by our board of directors in its sole discretion, whether in connection with acquisitions or otherwise. We have reserved shares for issuance under our 2011 Equity Plan and our 2020 Equity Plan. See “Executive Compensation—Equity Compensation Plans.” Any common stock that we issue, including under our 2011 Equity Plan, 2020 Equity Plan or other equity incentive plans that we may adopt in the future, would dilute the percentage ownership held by the investors who purchase

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common stock in this offering. In the future, we may also issue our securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The amount of shares of our common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of our common stock. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to you.

Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited.

Our business and operations may consume resources faster than we anticipate. In the future, we may need to raise additional funds through the issuance of new equity securities, debt or a combination of both. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms or at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our capital requirements. If we issue new debt securities, the debt holders would have rights senior to holders of our common stock to make claims on our assets and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. If we issue additional equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities, existing stockholders will experience dilution and the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, you bear the risk of our future securities offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting their interest.

Because we have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

We have no current plans to pay cash dividends on our common stock. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors, and will depend on, among other things, general and economic conditions, our results of operations and financial condition, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions and implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us, including restrictions under our credit agreements and other indebtedness we may incur, and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. See “Dividend Policy.” As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in our common stock unless you sell our common stock for a price greater than your purchase price.

Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. is a holding company and depends on its subsidiaries for cash to fund its operations and expenses, including future dividend payments, if any.

Our operations are conducted through our wholly owned subsidiaries and our ability to generate cash to meet our debt service obligations or to make future dividend payments, if any, is highly dependent on the earnings of, and the receipt of funds from, our subsidiaries via dividends or intercompany loans. We do not currently expect to declare or pay dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future; however, to the extent that we determine in the future to pay dividends on our common stock, the agreements governing our indebtedness may restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or otherwise transfer assets to us. In addition, Delaware law may impose requirements that may restrict our ability to pay dividends to holders of our common stock.

Future sales, or the perception of future sales, by us or our existing owners in the public market following this offering could cause the market price for our common stock to decline.

The sale of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, including sales by our existing owners, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of our common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.

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Upon completion of this offering we will have a total of          shares of our common stock outstanding. Of the outstanding shares, the          shares sold in this offering (or          shares if the underwriters exercise in full their over-allotment option) will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except that any shares held by our affiliates, as that term is defined under Rule 144 of the Securities Act, or Rule 144, including our directors, executive officers and other affiliates (including our existing owners), may be sold only in compliance with the limitations described in “Shares Eligible for Future Sale.”

The remaining outstanding              shares of common stock held by our existing owners after this offering, representing             % of the total outstanding shares of our common stock following this offering (or             % if the underwriters exercise in full their over-allotment option), will be “restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144 and subject to certain restrictions on resale. Restricted securities may be sold in the public market only if they are registered under the Securities Act or are sold pursuant to an exemption from registration such as Rule 144, as described in “Shares Eligible for Future Sale.”

We, our executive officers, directors and certain of our existing owners, will sign lock-up agreements with the underwriters that will, subject to certain customary exceptions, restrict the sale of the shares of our common stock and certain other securities held by them for 180 days following the date of this prospectus. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC may, in their sole discretion and at any time without notice, release all or any portion of the shares or securities subject to any such lock-up agreements. See “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest)” for a description of these lock-up agreements.

Upon the expiration of the lock-up agreements described above, all of such shares will be eligible for resale in a public market pursuant to Rule 144, subject to our compliance with the public information requirement and, in the case of shares held by our affiliates, to volume, manner of sale and other limitations under Rule 144. We expect that certain of our existing owners will be considered an affiliate upon the expiration of the lock-up period based on their expected share ownership, as well as their board nomination rights (if applicable). Certain other of our stockholders may also be considered affiliates at that time.

In addition, pursuant to a registration rights agreement, KKR Stockholders and the Gochman Investors will each have the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to register the sale of their shares of our common stock under the Securities Act. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Registration Rights Agreement.” By exercising their registration rights and selling a large number of shares, KKR Stockholders and/or the Gochman Investors could cause the prevailing market price of our common stock to decline. Certain of our existing owners have “piggyback” registration rights with respect to future registered offerings of our common stock. Following completion of this offering, the shares covered by registration rights would represent approximately             % of our total common stock outstanding (or             % if the underwriters exercise in full their over-allotment option). Registration of any of these outstanding shares of common stock would result in such shares becoming freely tradable without compliance with Rule 144 upon effectiveness of the registration statement. See “Shares Eligible for Future Sale.”

We intend to file one or more registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register shares of our common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our common stock issued pursuant to our existing 2011 Equity Plan and our 2020 Equity Plan and the ESPP to be adopted in connection with this offering. Any such Form S-8 registration statements will automatically become effective upon filing. Accordingly, shares registered under such registration statements will be available for sale in the open market. We expect that the initial registration statement on Form S-8 will cover          shares of our common stock.

As restrictions on resale end, or if the existing owners exercise their registration rights, the market price of our shares of common stock could drop significantly if the holders of these restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to raise additional funds through future offerings of our shares of common stock or other securities.

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If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they downgrade our stock or our sector, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade our stock or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or if our operating results do not meet their expectations, the price of our stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of the Company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

Our management may spend the proceeds of this offering in ways with which you may disagree or that may not be profitable.

Although we anticipate using the net proceeds from the offering as described under “Use of Proceeds,” we will have broad discretion as to the application of the net proceeds and could use them for purposes other than those contemplated by this offering. You may not agree with the manner in which our management chooses to allocate and spend the net proceeds. Our management may use the proceeds for corporate purposes that may not increase our profitability or otherwise result in the creation of stockholder value. In addition, pending our use of the proceeds, we may invest the proceeds primarily in instruments that do not produce significant income or that may lose value.

Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change of control.

Certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt, or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our stockholders.

These provisions will provide for, among other things:

These anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if the third party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many of our stockholders. As a result, our stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares. See “Description of Capital Stock.”

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Our board of directors will be authorized to issue and designate shares of our preferred stock in additional series without stockholder approval.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize our board of directors, without the approval of our stockholders, to issue          shares of our preferred stock, subject to limitations prescribed by applicable law, rules and regulations and the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as shares of preferred stock in series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each such series and to fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of the shares of each such series and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof. The powers, preferences and rights of these additional series of preferred stock may be senior to or on parity with our common stock, which may reduce its value.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders and the federal district courts will be the exclusive forum for Securities Act claims, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to bring a suit in a different judicial forum than they may otherwise choose for disputes with us or our directors, officers, team members or stockholders.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, subject to limited exceptions, that unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our company, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, or other employee or stockholder of our company to the Company or our stockholders, creditors or other constituents, (iii) action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer of the Company arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (iv) action asserting a claim against the Company or any director or officer of the Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine; provided that, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act, which already provides that such claims must be bought exclusively in the federal courts. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the U.S. federal district courts will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any actions or proceedings asserting claims arising under the Securities Act. While the Delaware Supreme Court has upheld the validity of similar provisions under the DGCL, there is uncertainty as to whether a court in another state would enforce such a forum selection provision. Our exclusive forum provision will not relieve us of our duties to comply with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with these laws, rules and regulations.

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other team members or stockholders. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations and financial conditions.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus includes forward-looking statements that reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, our operations and financial performance. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are included throughout this prospectus, including in the sections entitled “Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business” and relate to matters such as our industry, business strategy, goals and expectations concerning our market position, future operations, margins, profitability, capital expenditures, liquidity and capital resources and other financial and operating information. We have used the words “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “future,” “will,” “seek,” “foreseeable,” the negative version of these words or similar terms and phrases to identify forward-looking statements in this prospectus.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based on management’s current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Our expectations, beliefs, and projections are expressed in good faith and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs and projections will result or be achieved. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global, regional or local economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. We believe that these factors include but are not limited to those described under “Risk Factors” and the following:

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These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this prospectus. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this prospectus speaks only as of the date of this prospectus and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this prospectus. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures, investments or other strategic transactions we may make. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that we will receive net proceeds of approximately $         million (or approximately $         million, if the underwriters exercise in full their over-allotment option) from the sale of shares of our common stock in this offering, assuming an initial public offering price of $         per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. An increase (decrease) of 1,000,000 shares from the expected number of shares of common stock to be sold by us in this offering, assuming no change in the assumed initial offering price per share, would increase (decrease) our net proceeds from this offering by $         million. A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial offering price would increase (decrease) the net proceeds to us from this offering by $         million, assuming the number of shares of common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

We intend to use these proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of certain indebtedness, as will be determined prior to this offering.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We currently expect to retain all future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business and have no current plans to pay dividends on our common stock. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors, and will depend on, among other things, general and economic conditions, our results of operations and financial condition, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions and implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us, including restrictions under our credit agreements and other indebtedness we may incur, and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. If we elect to pay such dividends in the future, we may reduce or discontinue entirely the payment of such dividends at any time. Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. is a holding company and its operations are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiaries. In the event that we do pay a dividend, we intend to cause our operating subsidiaries to make distributions to us in an amount sufficient to cover such dividend. Our operating subsidiary, Academy, Ltd. and its subsidiaries are currently subject to certain restrictions and covenants under the credit agreements governing the ABL Facility and the Term Loan Facility, including limits on amounts of leverage, interest charges and capital expenditures. These restrictions and covenants may restrict the ability of those entities to make distributions to Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. See “Description of Certain Indebtedness.” Any additional financing arrangement we enter into in the future may include restrictive covenants that limit our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends to us. In addition, Delaware law may impose requirements that may restrict our ability to pay dividends to holders of our common stock.

On August 28, 2020, New Academy Holding Company, LLC paid a $257.0 million one-time special distribution to its unitholders of record as of August 25, 2020, of which $218.3 million was paid to Allstar LLC, an investment entity owned by KKR, $24.9 million was paid to the Gochman Investors and the remaining $4.8 million was paid to other unitholders. $248.0 million of such one-time special distribution was funded through cash on hand, with the remainder distributed through an offset of outstanding loans receivable from certain unitholders as well as state income tax withholdings made on behalf of our unitholders.

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth the cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of August 1, 2020 of New Academy Holding Company, LLC on an actual basis and of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. on a pro forma basis to reflect:

You should read this table in conjunction with the information contained in “Use of Proceeds,” “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Description of Certain Indebtedness” as well as our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes and our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes, each included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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DILUTION

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest in us will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) per share of our common stock after giving effect to this offering. Dilution results from the fact that the per share offering price of the common stock is substantially in excess of the pro forma net tangible book value per share attributable to our existing owners.

Our pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) as of August 1, 2020 was approximately $             million, or $             per share of our common stock. We calculate pro forma net tangible value (deficit) per share by taking the amount of our total tangible assets, reduced by the amount of our total liabilities, and then dividing that amount by the total number of shares of common stock outstanding on a pro forma basis giving effect to the Reorganization Transactions.

After giving effect to (i) our sale of          shares of common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and (ii) the use of proceeds therefrom, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) as of August 1, 2020 would have been $         million, or $         per share of our common stock. This amount represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) of $         per share of common stock to our existing owners and an immediate and substantial dilution in pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) of $         per share of common stock to new investors purchasing shares in this offering.

The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share of common stock basis assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional shares of common stock:

Dilution is determined by subtracting pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) per share of common stock after the offering from the initial public offering price per share of common stock.

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price per share of common stock would increase or decrease, as applicable, the pro forma net tangible book value by $         per share and the dilution to new investors in the offering by $         per share, assuming that the number of shares offered in this offering, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same. The pro forma information discussed above is for illustrative purposes only. Our net tangible book value (deficit) following the completion of the offering is subject to adjustment based on the actual offering price of our common stock and other terms of this offering determined at pricing.

The following table summarizes, on the same pro forma basis as of August 1, 2020, the total number of shares of common stock purchased from us, the total cash consideration paid to us and the average price per

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share of common stock paid by our existing owners and by new investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering.

If the underwriters were to exercise in full their option to purchase                  additional shares of our common stock from us, the percentage of shares of our common stock held by existing owners as of August 1, 2020 would be     % and the percentage of shares of our common stock held by new investors in this offering would be     %.

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SELECTED HISTORICAL CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

Set forth below is our selected historical consolidated financial data as of the dates and for the periods indicated. The selected historical financial data as of February 1, 2020 and February 2, 2019 and for 2019, 2018 and 2017 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The selected historical financial data as of February 3, 2018, January 28, 2017 and January 30, 2016 and for 2016 and 2015 has been derived from our consolidated financial statements not included in this prospectus. The selected historical financial data as of and for the twenty-six weeks ended August 1, 2020 and August 3, 2019 has been derived from our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The results of operations for any period are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period.

The selected historical consolidated financial data of Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. has not been presented, as Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc. is a newly incorporated entity, has had no business transactions or activities to date other than in connection with its formation and this offering and had no assets or liabilities during the periods presented in this section.

Pro forma balance sheet data as of August 1, 2020 presented below gives effect to the $257.0 million one-time special distribution to our unitholders paid on August 28, 2020, $248.0 million of which was paid with cash on hand and the remainder of which was distributed through an offset of outstanding loans receivable from certain unitholders as well as state income tax withholdings made on behalf of our unitholders. Pro forma net income data presented below gives effect to the anticipated conversion of New Academy Holding Company, LLC to a C Corporation. Pro forma net income per share data for 2019 and the twenty-six weeks ended August 1, 2020 presented below gives effect to the Reorganization Transactions and also assumes that              and                      additional shares of common stock were outstanding for 2019 and the twenty-six weeks ended August 1, 2020, respectively, and were used to fund the amount of the special distribution in excess of our net income for such period.

You should read the following selected financial data below together with the information under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes and our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes, each included elsewhere in this prospectus.