Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this activity cover?
It covers the retail sale of athletic and activewear clothing through specialised stores, including performance wear, leggings, tracksuits, sports bras, training tees, and athleisure pieces.
Who are the typical customers?
Gym-goers, runners, cyclists, sports players, and the wider crowd who wear activewear as everyday clothing across the UAE.
Does this include technical and performance apparel?
Yes. Retailing technical, performance, and sport-specific clothing such as compression and moisture-wicking wear falls within the scope of a sports wear store under this activity.
Does this activity include sports footwear or equipment?
The activity centres on sports clothing. Dedicated footwear-only retail or sports-equipment retail falls under separate activities, though clothing-related items are stocked alongside garments.
Is approval required for activity 4771.88 specifically?
No third-party approval is required for activity 4771.88. The activity is also exempt from AML compliance requirements.
How to Start a Sportswear Trading Business with Meydan Free Zone
Stand outside a gym in Dubai Marina at six in the evening and count the outfits before anyone has touched a weight. Matching sets straight off social media, compression tops, running shoes that cost more than the monthly membership. In the UAE, activewear stopped being something you change into for the workout. It became what people wear to brunch, to the school run, and to the gym they may or may not actually enter.
Sports wear in the UAE rides a fitness culture that doubles as a fashion habit. The UAE sportswear market was worth USD 991.5 million in 2025 and is forecast to reach USD 1.38 billion by 2034, according to IMARC Group1. The wider region grows even faster: the Middle East and Africa is the fastest-growing sports apparel market in the world, at about 9 percent a year, according to Mordor Intelligence2. For a sportswear retailer, that is one rail selling to two customers at once: the athlete who buys for performance, and the far larger crowd who buy activewear to wear all day.
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How Big the Activewear Habit Is
Sports wear trading in the UAE serves a market where activewear is everyday clothing as much as gym kit, set inside the fastest-growing sports-apparel region in the world.
Sources: IMARC Group (2025); Mordor Intelligence (2026).
A sportswear retailer sells athletic and activewear clothing through a specialised store. Stock typically spans performance tops and bottoms, leggings and compression wear, tracksuits, sports bras, training tees, and athleisure pieces. The buyers are mixed: gym-goers and runners kitting out for training, cyclists and weekend sports players after technical gear, and the much larger crowd who wear activewear as everyday clothing. The same pair of leggings sells to a marathon runner and to someone heading for brunch, and that double use is what gives the category its volume.
Walk into a sports wear shop in a Dubai mall on a weekend and the buying splits clean in two. One customer wants function: moisture-wicking fabric, four-way stretch, the right shoe for a half-marathon. The next wants the look: the matching set they saw on a feed, in this season's colour. The staff talk fabric technology to one and styling to the other without changing the rack.
Demand spikes around the new-year fitness rush, the cooler outdoor-season months, and every fresh drop from a popular brand. A single shop fields both kinds of customer in an afternoon, which is why the ones that win carry serious performance gear and the latest lifestyle drop side by side.
From the half-marathon kit to the matching set worn to brunch, sports wear stores dress both the workout and the lifestyle around it in the UAE.
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Who is this for?
- Sportswear and activewear retailers: Operators of specialised stores selling athletic and activewear clothing to UAE shoppers.
- Performance and technical apparel stores: Businesses focused on running, training, and sport-specific technical clothing.
- Athleisure and lifestyle fashion retailers: Retailers curating activewear ranges worn as everyday fashion.
Meydan Free Zone offers 100% foreign ownership, zero percent corporate tax on qualifying income, full profit repatriation, and a fully digital licensing process, providing a regulated and cost-efficient base from which to operate a sports wear trading business in the fastest-growing sports-apparel region in the world.
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4771.88 - Sports Wear Trading
Under this activity, your business is licensed to retail athletic and activewear clothing through specialised stores.
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The activity is specifically for the retail sale of sports and activewear clothing in specialised stores. Retail sale of textiles and fabrics by the metre falls under a separate activity (4751). Manufacturing sportswear and wholesale distribution to other businesses each fall under their own activities.
The line is precise. If your business retails finished sports and activewear clothing to customers through a specialised store, you are in. If you sell textiles and fabrics by the metre, or manufacture or wholesale the garments rather than retail them, a different activity applies.
Third-Party Approval: No third-party approval is required for this business activity.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance: This business activity is exempt from AML compliance requirements.
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Footnotes
1 IMARC Group. UAE Sportswear Market Size, Share & Forecast. IMARC Group, 2025.
2 Mordor Intelligence. Sports Apparel Market Size & Share Report. Mordor Intelligence, 2026.
