Sports Medicine Market Size and Share
Market Definition
Arthroscopic enabling equipment and implantables. Orthobiologics, wearables and braces are not included in this chapter.
November 2023
Mike Evers, Senior Market Analyst
Welcome to our overview of the sports medicine market. This page supplements the sports medicine chapter in THE ORTHOPAEDIC INDUSTRY ANNUAL REPORT®. The segment is fast-growing and of strategic importance to the biggest orthopedic companies. I’ll be back in late November with important segment updates and our year-end projections. See you soon!
The Market at a Glance
Sports medicine sales surpassed $6.3 billion in 2022 and account for 11.4% of the $55 billion global orthopedic market. Improving procedure volumes helped sports medicine recover over the last two years, but component supply shortages limited the segment’s capital equipment availability.
In 2023, sports medicine volumes slowed a bit as surgeons and distributors focused on the long-awaited rebound of large joint replacement procedures.
Market Forecast
Ongoing pressures like supply chain disruption and staffing shortages were mitigated somewhat during 2023. We expect the sports medicine segment to generate $6.6 billion in 2023, or +5.1% growth as it normalizes toward historical growth rates. The market is expected to climb to $7.7 billion in 2026.
Exhibit 1: Worldwide Sports Medicine Sales by Year ($millions)
Get More Orthopedic Market Data. Download the Orthopedic Revenue Matrix for our most complete and granular numbers. It contains worldwide orthopedic sales for 67 public and private companies by segment from 2016 through 2022.
Demographic tailwinds, surgical prioritization in a disrupted market and new segment opportunities are some of the factors we considered in our forecast.
Strong Underlying Growth Trends
While transitory pressures impacted sports medicine over the last several years, the segment remains a highly attractive space with many complementary and fast-growing niches. Anika Therapeutics is a prototypical example of a company leveraging several of those sub-markets. Anika estimates that its sports medicine products for rotator cuff disease equate to an $850 million market, growing in the mid-to high-single digits.
Dynamic Environment Brings More Uncertainty
We remain cautious about the short-term prospects for the sports medicine segment. Supply chain issues and hospital staffing shortages, while improving, are still market headwinds.
Surgical volumes largely improved during 2022, but sports medicine procedures tended to be a lower priority during catch-up periods. The fast-growing niche markets underlying the future growth of sports medicine will need time to achieve critical mass as products reach the market and adoption accelerates.
We see different parts of the market recovering faster than others. Specifically in orthopedics, we’ve seen reports from the large market players that the hip and knee business is coming back at high-single-digit levels, but sports extremity and trauma have not come back as quickly.
Dr. Cheryl Blanchard, Anika Therapeutics CEO
Cartilage Repair Opportunity
Startup company Nanochon estimates the U.S. sports medicine application for cartilage repair at $2 billion annually. It represents an underserved niche that provides a substantial opportunity, especially for the care of younger and more active patients. The company is targeting that market through its off-the-shelf 3D-printed biomaterial device that promotes cartilage regrowth in the knee.
Nanochon ultimately wants to replace microfracture knee surgery as the standard of care. Company co-founder and CEO Benjamin Holmes, Ph.D., said that 700,000 knee arthroscopies are performed each year and, excluding microfracture procedures, 25,000 corrective procedures involving an implant.
Other Segment Reports
Orthopedic Market Overview
October 26, 2023
Joint Replacement Implant Market
October 26, 2023
Spine Implant Market
October 26, 2023
Trauma Implant Market
October 26, 2023
Orthobiologics Market
October 26, 2023
Enabling Technology Market
October 26, 2023
Sales by Region
Most international markets saw improving surgical volume trends against a softer 2021 comparison. The COVID outbreak in China during the first quarter of 2022 significantly impacted sports medicine players competing in that market.
Smith+Nephew’s sports medicine franchise sustained sales declines in the high single digits during the second quarter of 2022 as vast swaths of China remained under lockdown.
U.S. sports medicine sales surpassed $4 billion and accounted for 66% of the market in 2022, while OUS sales reached $2.1 billion.
Exhibit 2: Sports Medicine Sales by Region ($millions)
| Region | FY22 | FY21 | $ Chg | % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | $4,158.7 | $3,948.5 | $210.2 | 5.3% |
| OUS | $2,142.4 | $2,098.2 | $44.2 | 2.1% |
| EMEA | $1,190.9 | $1,118.6 | $72.3 | 6.5% |
| APAC | $586.0 | $610.7 | ($24.7) | (4%) |
| ROW | $365.5 | $368.8 | ($3.4) | (0.9%) |
| Total | $6,301.1 | $6,046.7 | $254.3 | 4.2% |
Exhibit 3: Sports Medicine Market Share by Region ($millions)
Top Companies
Arthrex and Smith+Nephew maintain dominant positions in the sports medicine market, accounting for 57% of global sales in the segment. More players in orthopedics’ $1 billion revenue tier, especially Stryker and Zimmer Biomet, are shifting investment dollars toward sports medicine and experiencing meaningful growth.
Stryker’s ASC offense synergizes well with its sports medicine business. Meanwhile, Zimmer Biomet’s active portfolio management prioritizes higher-growth areas like sports medicine.
Orthopedic ASCs are buying across product lines. They are buying capital, disposables and implants. That definitely plays to our advantage because we're very deep within these service lines.
Kevin Lobo, Stryker CEO
Exhibit 4: Top 10 Sports Medicine Players and All Others ($millions)
| Company | FY22 | FY21 | $ Chg | % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthrex | $2,155.0 | $2,033.0 | $122.0 | 6% |
| Smith+Nephew | $1,435.7 | $1,428.0 | $7.7 | 0.5% |
| Stryker | $806.0 | $728.0 | $78.0 | 10.7% |
| DePuy Synthes | $753.2 | $724.1 | $29.2 | 4% |
| CONMED | $436.8 | $438.4 | ($1.6) | (0.4%) |
| Zimmer Biomet | $195.3 | $183.6 | $11.7 | 6.4% |
| KARL STORZ | $140.7 | $131.4 | $9.3 | 7.1% |
| All Others | $378.4 | $380.2 | ($1.9) | (0.5%) |
| Total | $6,301.1 | $6,046.7 | $254.3 | 4.2% |
Exhibit 5: Sports Medicine Market Share by Company ($millions)
The sports medicine segment grew +4.2% in 2022 to a global total of $6.3 billion. Procedure volumes have generally improved the last two years. Electronic component shortages limited the availability of enabling technologies used in sports medicine surgeries. Capital sales within the segment declined for both Smith+Nephew and CONMED.
Arthrex furthered its vision of connected operating rooms by collaborating with Skytron, a healthcare safety and efficiency company specializing in capital equipment.
Zimmer Biomet continued allocating more resources to sports medicine, most recently acquiring Embody for $155 million, plus another $120 million in milestone payments. Embody specializes in sports medicine soft tissue healing, featuring the TAPESTRY biointegrative implant for tendon healing and TAPESTRY RC, reportedly one of the first arthroscopic implant systems for rotator cuff repair.
Important Developments in the Sports Medicine Market
Modernization of the Operating Room
In late 2022, Laith M. Jazrawi, M.D., Chief of Sports Medicine at NYU Grossman Medicine, performed the first U.S. surgery with Lazurite’s ArthroFree System, a wireless arthroscopic camera. He described the experience as “truly liberating.”
As network speeds and camera quality improve, wireless and single-use sports medicine instruments could push more procedures into office settings with lower costs and higher patient satisfaction. Longer-term, Dr. Jazrawi believes that genetic testing could lead to patient-specific care plans for sports medicine.
Largest Players Making Inroads
Stryker’s sports medicine business has been “on fire,” as CEO Kevin Lobo described it, with a long string of double-digit growth quarters. The company’s broad portfolio and dedicated ASC team have fueled its sports medicine gains.
Zimmer Biomet repeatedly cites sports medicine as a priority segment for investment as it scales up its ASC infrastructure through acquisitions. Still, a vast gulf of revenue exists between segment leaders Arthrex and Smith+Nephew and everyone else in the space.
Supply Chain Disruption Constrains Capital Sales
Sports medicine capital sales struggled during the pandemic. While accelerating procedure volumes improved demand, supply chain disruption limited recovery for Smith+Nephew and CONMED.
Curt Hartman, CEO of CONMED, said the company is maintaining its share position, but the age of its capital equipment is a disadvantage. While the company is working to get next-generation systems into the market, supply constraints slow the process.
Further Reading
Thanks for visiting! Need more insight into the sports medicine market? Questions and comments are always welcome. You can reach me by email. I’ll be back soon with updates to this page as we complete our projections for the 2023 finish.
Until then, here are a few sports medicine posts I found interesting.
December 12, 2022
,
Dan Cook
August 21, 2023
,
Julie A. Vetalice
March 7, 2023
,
Julie A. Vetalice
Welcome to our overview of the sports medicine market. This page supplements the sports medicine chapter in THE ORTHOPAEDIC INDUSTRY ANNUAL REPORT®. Sports medicine sales surpassed $6.3 billion in 2022 and account for 11.4% of the $55 billion global orthopedic market.
Market Definition
Arthroscopic enabling equipment and implantables. Orthobiologics, wearables and braces are not included in this chapter.
November 2023
Mike Evers, Senior Market Analyst
Welcome to our overview of the sports medicine market. This page supplements the sports medicine chapter in THE ORTHOPAEDIC INDUSTRY ANNUAL REPORT®. The segment is fast-growing and of strategic importance to the biggest orthopedic companies. I’ll be back in late November with important segment updates and our year-end projections. See you soon!
The Market at a Glance
Sports medicine sales surpassed $6.3 billion in 2022 and account for 11.4% of the $55 billion global orthopedic market. Improving procedure volumes helped sports medicine recover over the last two years, but component supply shortages limited the segment’s capital equipment availability.
In 2023, sports medicine volumes slowed a bit as surgeons and distributors focused on the long-awaited rebound of large joint replacement procedures.
Market Forecast
Ongoing pressures like supply chain disruption and staffing shortages were mitigated somewhat during 2023. We expect the sports medicine segment to generate $6.6 billion in 2023, or +5.1% growth as it normalizes toward historical growth rates. The market is expected to climb to $7.7 billion in 2026.
Exhibit 1: Worldwide Sports Medicine Sales by Year ($millions)
Get More Orthopedic Market Data. Download the Orthopedic Revenue Matrix for our most complete and granular numbers. It contains worldwide orthopedic sales for 67 public and private companies by segment from 2016 through 2022.
Demographic tailwinds, surgical prioritization in a disrupted market and new segment opportunities are some of the factors we considered in our forecast.
Strong Underlying Growth Trends
While transitory pressures impacted sports medicine over the last several years, the segment remains a highly attractive space with many complementary and fast-growing niches. Anika Therapeutics is a prototypical example of a company leveraging several of those sub-markets. Anika estimates that its sports medicine products for rotator cuff disease equate to an $850 million market, growing in the mid-to high-single digits.
Dynamic Environment Brings More Uncertainty
We remain cautious about the short-term prospects for the sports medicine segment. Supply chain issues and hospital staffing shortages, while improving, are still market headwinds.
Surgical volumes largely improved during 2022, but sports medicine procedures tended to be a lower priority during catch-up periods. The fast-growing niche markets underlying the future growth of sports medicine will need time to achieve critical mass as products reach the market and adoption accelerates.
We see different parts of the market recovering faster than others. Specifically in orthopedics, we’ve seen reports from the large market players that the hip and knee business is coming back at high-single-digit levels, but sports extremity and trauma have not come back as quickly.
Dr. Cheryl Blanchard, Anika Therapeutics CEO
Cartilage Repair Opportunity
Startup company Nanochon estimates the U.S. sports medicine application for cartilage repair at $2 billion annually. It represents an underserved niche that provides a substantial opportunity, especially for the care of younger and more active patients. The company is targeting that market through its off-the-shelf 3D-printed biomaterial device that promotes cartilage regrowth in the knee.
Nanochon ultimately wants to replace microfracture knee surgery as the standard of care. Company co-founder and CEO Benjamin Holmes, Ph.D., said that 700,000 knee arthroscopies are performed each year and, excluding microfracture procedures, 25,000 corrective procedures involving an implant.
Other Segment Reports
Orthopedic Market Overview
October 26, 2023
Joint Replacement Implant Market
October 26, 2023
Spine Implant Market
October 26, 2023
Trauma Implant Market
October 26, 2023
Orthobiologics Market
October 26, 2023
Enabling Technology Market
October 26, 2023
Sales by Region
Most international markets saw improving surgical volume trends against a softer 2021 comparison. The COVID outbreak in China during the first quarter of 2022 significantly impacted sports medicine players competing in that market.
Smith+Nephew’s sports medicine franchise sustained sales declines in the high single digits during the second quarter of 2022 as vast swaths of China remained under lockdown.
U.S. sports medicine sales surpassed $4 billion and accounted for 66% of the market in 2022, while OUS sales reached $2.1 billion.
Exhibit 2: Sports Medicine Sales by Region ($millions)
| Region | FY22 | FY21 | $ Chg | % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | $4,158.7 | $3,948.5 | $210.2 | 5.3% |
| OUS | $2,142.4 | $2,098.2 | $44.2 | 2.1% |
| EMEA | $1,190.9 | $1,118.6 | $72.3 | 6.5% |
| APAC | $586.0 | $610.7 | ($24.7) | (4%) |
| ROW | $365.5 | $368.8 | ($3.4) | (0.9%) |
| Total | $6,301.1 | $6,046.7 | $254.3 | 4.2% |
Exhibit 3: Sports Medicine Market Share by Region ($millions)
Top Companies
Arthrex and Smith+Nephew maintain dominant positions in the sports medicine market, accounting for 57% of global sales in the segment. More players in orthopedics’ $1 billion revenue tier, especially Stryker and Zimmer Biomet, are shifting investment dollars toward sports medicine and experiencing meaningful growth.
Stryker’s ASC offense synergizes well with its sports medicine business. Meanwhile, Zimmer Biomet’s active portfolio management prioritizes higher-growth areas like sports medicine.
Orthopedic ASCs are buying across product lines. They are buying capital, disposables and implants. That definitely plays to our advantage because we're very deep within these service lines.
Kevin Lobo, Stryker CEO
Exhibit 4: Top 10 Sports Medicine Players and All Others ($millions)
| Company | FY22 | FY21 | $ Chg | % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthrex | $2,155.0 | $2,033.0 | $122.0 | 6% |
| Smith+Nephew | $1,435.7 | $1,428.0 | $7.7 | 0.5% |
| Stryker | $806.0 | $728.0 | $78.0 | 10.7% |
| DePuy Synthes | $753.2 | $724.1 | $29.2 | 4% |
| CONMED | $436.8 | $438.4 | ($1.6) | (0.4%) |
| Zimmer Biomet | $195.3 | $183.6 | $11.7 | 6.4% |
| KARL STORZ | $140.7 | $131.4 | $9.3 | 7.1% |
| All Others | $378.4 | $380.2 | ($1.9) | (0.5%) |
| Total | $6,301.1 | $6,046.7 | $254.3 | 4.2% |
Exhibit 5: Sports Medicine Market Share by Company ($millions)
The sports medicine segment grew +4.2% in 2022 to a global total of $6.3 billion. Procedure volumes have generally improved the last two years. Electronic component shortages limited the availability of enabling technologies used in sports medicine surgeries. Capital sales within the segment declined for both Smith+Nephew and CONMED.
Arthrex furthered its vision of connected operating rooms by collaborating with Skytron, a healthcare safety and efficiency company specializing in capital equipment.
Zimmer Biomet continued allocating more resources to sports medicine, most recently acquiring Embody for $155 million, plus another $120 million in milestone payments. Embody specializes in sports medicine soft tissue healing, featuring the TAPESTRY biointegrative implant for tendon healing and TAPESTRY RC, reportedly one of the first arthroscopic implant systems for rotator cuff repair.
Important Developments in the Sports Medicine Market
Modernization of the Operating Room
In late 2022, Laith M. Jazrawi, M.D., Chief of Sports Medicine at NYU Grossman Medicine, performed the first U.S. surgery with Lazurite’s ArthroFree System, a wireless arthroscopic camera. He described the experience as “truly liberating.”
As network speeds and camera quality improve, wireless and single-use sports medicine instruments could push more procedures into office settings with lower costs and higher patient satisfaction. Longer-term, Dr. Jazrawi believes that genetic testing could lead to patient-specific care plans for sports medicine.
Largest Players Making Inroads
Stryker’s sports medicine business has been “on fire,” as CEO Kevin Lobo described it, with a long string of double-digit growth quarters. The company’s broad portfolio and dedicated ASC team have fueled its sports medicine gains.
Zimmer Biomet repeatedly cites sports medicine as a priority segment for investment as it scales up its ASC infrastructure through acquisitions. Still, a vast gulf of revenue exists between segment leaders Arthrex and Smith+Nephew and everyone else in the space.
Supply Chain Disruption Constrains Capital Sales
Sports medicine capital sales struggled during the pandemic. While accelerating procedure volumes improved demand, supply chain disruption limited recovery for Smith+Nephew and CONMED.
Curt Hartman, CEO of CONMED, said the company is maintaining its share position, but the age of its capital equipment is a disadvantage. While the company is working to get next-generation systems into the market, supply constraints slow the process.
Further Reading
Thanks for visiting! Need more insight into the sports medicine market? Questions and comments are always welcome. You can reach me by email. I’ll be back soon with updates to this page as we complete our projections for the 2023 finish.
Until then, here are a few sports medicine posts I found interesting.
December 12, 2022
,
Dan Cook
August 21, 2023
,
Julie A. Vetalice
March 7, 2023
,
Julie A. Vetalice
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