When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
From game tickets and iconic posters to team apparel and living room games, these are the best gifts for sports fans.
Uncommon Goods
You can find great gifts for sports fans in every category and price point.
Below are 22 gift ideas, whether they're loyal to the Mets or the US women's national soccer team.
You'll find cool gear, clever keepsakes, and experiential sports gifts for all kinds of sports fans.
If you're gift shopping for a sports fan, you have a deep (but thankfully specific) well to draw from.
For diehard sports fans, we recommend everything from wallets that look like baseballs to a comprehensive anthology of the best golf tournaments.
And for the sports fans who are happiest when playing basketball themselves, you might prioritize useful upgrades: smartwatches that recommend recovery time based on their run, ski goggles that increase peripheral vision, packable cycling helmets, and more.
And, for all the sports fans in between, there's a buffet of classic gifts: tickets, merch, video games, and the best streaming service.
Below, you'll find 22 of the best gifts for sports fans to kick off your search:
You can find tickets for pretty much every type of sport on StubHub. Are they into the NFL? NHL? Horse racing? Soccer? Get them a couple of tickets to a game in town, or a gift card to use on whichever date they so choose.
You know they'll love it, you know they'll wear it. Nike has a hat (typically baseball cap styles) for just about every team under the sun, including a reversible bucket hat for FC Barcelona.
If you're both massive football fans, then friendship bracelets made out of authenticated NFL uniforms are up there in terms of great gifts. Each bracelet comes in a gift box with an authentication card and a hologram so they can look up the details of the season issued.
Glasses with their team's cityscape or arena map imprinted on them
If they never miss a game from their alma mater, give them a set of college cityscape glasses. If they've got season tickets for their favorite hockey or baseball team, consider glasses printed with popular arena and park maps such as Fenway and Yankee Stadium or Seattle Kraken.
If they're always on the go and biking around town, a cleverly designed helmet may be the perfect gift. It collapses to half its size and is really lightweight. It's also safety-certified in both the US and EU, so you're not compromising on durability or performance in favor of a good feature. It's one of the 100 products on the Insider Review All-Time Best list.
A sports-specific streaming service
Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
They don't need cable to watch their favorite games. Certain services stream sports on live TV channels, and others have exclusive matches. Trying to figure out which one to give them? You can find a general rundown of the best sports streaming services here.
An unmissable sports biography they've yet to read
Amazon
"The Mamba Mentality: How I Play" by Kobe Bryant, available on Amazon and Bookshop, from $18
In his own words, Kobe Bryant details his famously detailed approach — from pre-game prep to detailed accounts of his career's most noteworthy plays and match-ups — and the inner workings of the "Mamba Mentality." Bryant's insight is paired with photographs from the Hall of Fame photographer Andrew D. Bernstein.
A pillow embroidered for their favorite college team
If your sports fan is deeply bonded to their college sports team, consider a beautifully embroidered piece of home decor that they can clutch during close games.
Unless they're lucky enough to spend most of the year on the slopes (and even if they are), a print of their favorite ski resort is a year-round, decor-friendly homage to a place filled with sweet, adventurous memories. You can order it unframed, or pay $100 extra to have it framed.
Wearing the right gear makes all the difference to enjoying a sport. For skiing, the right goggles can make a world of difference; features like Observation Deck technology can give them more peripheral vision than other goggles, and fog-free tech can keep their vision clear continually. In our buying guide to the best winter gear, we recommend Spy Marauder goggles for a masculine fit and Zeal Beacon for a feminine fit.
A hardcover coffee table book dedicated to Muhammad Ali
The "Greatest of All Time. A Tribute to Muhammad Ali" is a beautiful hardcover devoted to the boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, and offers a comprehensive record of his career. Inside, your giftee will find expert essays, interviews, and thousands of unforgettable images (including fold-outs).
Pop these reusable whiskey chillers in the freezer for a few hours and they'll cool drinks without watering them down. Perfect for relaxing after a long day of playing 18 holes.
If they're constantly playing or training, a massage gun is an all-time best gift for improving their recoveries. They help improve blood flow to the muscles for reduced inflammation, and we think the Hyperice performs both well and quietly, among other perks.
If they already have every golf product they need, this is one thing they probably don't have. This coffee table book is a compilation of golf's greatest legends and most incredible tournaments, told by "The New York Times" archives.
Whichever sport they're into — tennis, baseball, surfing, skiing, golfing, fishing — there's a New Yorker cartoon for you. We love gifting mugs; they're small, thoughtful, and can bring a smile to their face every day.
