Retailer Rebel Sport is aiming to double its private label and exclusive licensed brand revenue from nearly 10 per cent to 20 per cent of total sales by FY31, as newly posted managing director Jenny Child flags a deliberate shift in how Australia's largest sporting goods retailer positions its product offer.
Child, who took the helm of the $1.36 billion revenue business earlier this month, told Super Retail Group's investor day on Thursday morning that the push was not just about margin but about building a more competitive range through a clearly architected good-better-best structure sitting alongside global brands.
"We're going to complement our global branded product with more of our own product and more of this licensed exclusive product," Child said.
The brand leading the charge is ELL/VOO, which has climbed from sixth to second in Rebel's women's apparel rankings in under three years. Child highlighted it as proof of concept for the broader private label ambition, alongside fitness brand Celsius, which is now Rebel's number-one brand in its category and seventh largest brand overall by sales.
On the licensed side, Rebel holds exclusive Australian distribution agreements with Under Armour across multiple categories, Prince in tennis, and Puma in football, with Child noting the Under Armour partnership links directly to the brand's Baltimore headquarters.
The strategy will expand into men's, teens and kids categories and is expected to support gross margin expansion alongside revenue growth.
This comes as Rebel’s gross margin slipped by 40 basis points in the first half of FY26, with Super Retail Group blaming an increase in promotional activity throughout the period.
Child framed the private label shift as central to Rebel's play for a larger share of what the company characterises as a $13 billion core sports market in Australia, within a broader $25 billion addressable market inclusive of health and wellness tailwinds. Rebel claims to currently hold approximately 10 per cent of its core market.
Alongside the private label push, Child flagged an aggressive regional store expansion as Rebel's primary growth driver for network footprint, with total store count targeted to grow from around 160 to approximately 205 by FY31.
The company has identified more than 50 potential sites nationally, with 30 prioritised for delivery by FY31.
Child pointed to the Wodonga store – opened November 2024 – as the template, noting the store generated approximately $6 million in revenue in its first year with contribution margins above the fleet average, in a regional city of around 45,000 people that had previously lacked a major sporting goods retailer.
"We don't have to create demand, because there's already so much excitement and vibrant sporting communities," Child said.
Child also outlined what she described as a "strategic shift" in how Rebel approaches individual sports – moving from broad but shallow coverage to deliberate category leadership.
Under the banner of "owning sport," Child listed five key tactics, including ranging with authority, serving as a one-stop shop, delivering in-store and online expertise, aligning with sporting calendars and embedding the retailer in sporting communities.
Child acknowledged that in some key categories, experienced athletes tend to bypass Rebel in favour of specialty independents.
Pickleball was cited as a live example of the whitespace opportunity – a sport with 155,000 Australian participants and strong global growth momentum, where Rebel currently stocks fewer than 20 SKUs.
Child, who pointed out early in the presentation that she has been in the role for just 11 days – counting weekends, as a retailer – was direct about operational gaps that need addressing before growth initiatives can fully land.
She flagged five priority areas: availability, value communication, in-store service, stock loss, and omni-channel execution. On stock loss in particular, she said "great progress" was being made on both theft prevention and team safety, while retraining is underway to lift in-store service standards.
"This earns us the right to really go after those growth opportunities," Child said.
Rebel reported FY25 revenue of $1.36 billion, a five-year compound annual growth rate of 5 per cent, with 4.3 million active loyalty club members accounting for 82 per cent of sales.
In the first half of FY26, the sporting retailer’s total sales grew by 4.8 per cent to $740.4 million.