Dick's Sporting Goods Seasonal Hiring, 14,000 in 2025 and 11,000+ for 2026

While most retailers pulled back on holiday hiring in 2025, Dick's Sporting Goods went the other way. On October 16, 2025, the sporting goods giant said it expected to hire approximately 14,000 seasonal teammates for the 2025 holiday season, up from the nearly 8,000 it planned for 2024. The 2025 total included newly acquired Foot Locker for the first time.

2026 update (October 15, 2026): Dick's and Foot Locker expect to hire over 11,000 seasonal teammates for the 2026 holiday season, fewer than the 2025 plan. That includes about 8,400 at Dick's Sporting Goods, Dick's House of Sport, Going Going Gone! and Public Lands stores and about 2,900 at Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, WSS and Champs Sports. The ninth annual National Signing Day is Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and all U.S. stores and distribution centers close on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2026.

The hiring push came weeks after Dick's completed its $2.4 billion acquisition of Foot Locker on September 8, 2025, leaving the combined company with more than 3,200 stores across 20 countries. The holiday hiring was Dick's first major seasonal recruitment as a combined company, and the numbers reflect the larger footprint.

Over 9,100 seasonal teammates were set to join Dick's Sporting Goods, Dick's House of Sport, and Public Lands locations. Over 500 more were planned for Going, Going, Gone! outlets nationwide. The newly acquired Foot Locker business planned to add approximately 4,750 team members across Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, WSS, and Champs Sports store locations in North America.

National Signing Day Returns

Dick's hosted its eighth annual "National Signing Day" on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, marking the official launch of the 2025 recruiting push. The sports-themed hiring event borrows language from college athletics, where high school athletes commit to universities on National Signing Day. For Dick's, it's become a signature element of their seasonal hiring strategy - generating buzz, creating urgency, and positioning retail jobs as opportunities worth celebrating rather than just positions to fill.

Job seekers interested in Dick's positions could apply by visiting dicks.com/jobs and searching for their nearest location. After submitting applications online, candidates were encouraged to visit their local Dick's store on National Signing Day, October 22, to interview with hiring managers and meet the team. Hiring continued beyond that date until all seasonal positions were filled, but the National Signing Day event offered the most concentrated opportunity to connect directly with decision-makers.

For Foot Locker seasonal positions, candidates applied online at careers.footlocker.com. The Foot Locker hiring process ran separately from Dick's main brands.

"The holidays are one of the most exciting times for our stores, and our seasonal teammates bring incredible energy to serving our athletes and customers," said Julie Lodge-Jarrett, Executive Vice President and Chief People, Purpose and Transformation Officer at Dick's Sporting Goods. "Their passion and enthusiasm make all the difference during the busiest shopping days of the year, and we're thrilled to welcome thousands of new teammates to help athletes find the perfect gifts this season."

Why Dick's Hired While Others Froze

Dick's 2025 seasonal hiring stood out in a weak year for retail jobs. U.S. retailers added 461,500 seasonal jobs in the last quarter of 2025, the smallest seasonal gain since 2008, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas figures reported by Retail Dive. Several factors explained Dick's willingness to invest in temporary labor when others pulled back:

Strong financial performance: Dick's reported net income of $381 million in Q2 fiscal 2025, up from $362 million a year earlier. Sales rose to $3.65 billion, up 5% from $3.47 billion in the same period last year. Comparable-store sales increased 5%. When a retailer is actually growing revenue and profits, seasonal hiring makes strategic sense.

Foot Locker integration: The September acquisition added about 2,400 stores to Dick's portfolio. Many of those locations experienced their first holiday season under new ownership, requiring adequate staffing to maintain service levels and avoid alienating the existing Foot Locker customer base during a critical transition period.

Experiential retail expansion: Dick's said it planned to open 13 House of Sport stores before the 2025 holidays. These are larger experiential stores rather than traditional sporting goods shops, and they can need more staff than a standard format.

Sports and outdoor market strength: Dick's reported record second-quarter sales in 2025, a sign that shoppers were still spending on sports gear and athletic footwear.

Competitive positioning: Staffing up for the holiday rush let Dick's keep more help on the sales floor, which can win over shoppers trying its stores for the first time.

What Seasonal Workers Could Expect

Dick's said its seasonal teammates receive competitive pay and teammate discounts, but it did not disclose wage ranges. For 2026, the company says teammates can join its 401(k) plan after 30 days of employment, with a 100% vested company match.

Seasonal workers also get teammate discounts on merchandise, a real perk for sports fans and parents shopping for gear. Dick's did not give the 2025 discount rate, but its 2024 hiring release described an associate discount of up to 25-40% off. For 2026, it says discounts apply across participating brands.

Dick's has been recognized as a Fortune Best Workplaces in Retail and holds Great Place to Work certification for five years in a row as of 2025, and six as of 2026. Seasonal roles do not come with every benefit of a permanent job, but these awards point to the culture new hires join.

One notable commitment: all Dick's and U.S. Foot Locker stores and distribution centers were closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2025, so teammates could spend the holiday with loved ones. Dick's says this has been its practice in previous years, unlike retailers that schedule holiday shifts. Online shopping stayed open on Thanksgiving, but stores stayed shuttered, a meaningful gesture for workers who have watched Black Friday creep earlier each year.

The Broader Holiday Hiring Picture

Dick's 14,000 seasonal roles were a big number for a specialty retailer in 2025, but they are small next to Amazon, which said it was creating 250,000 jobs in the US for the 2025 holiday season.

Dick's total rose from nearly 8,000 in 2024 to about 14,000 in 2025, but most of that jump came from adding Foot Locker's approximately 4,750 seasonal roles. Across Dick's own banners, the 2025 plan was over 9,600 (over 9,100 plus over 500 at Going, Going, Gone!), still above 2024. That growth, at a time when overall retail seasonal hiring shrank, points to diverging fortunes within retail. Dick's was growing sales and hiring more, while the sector as a whole hired less.

For job seekers navigating the 2025 holiday employment landscape, Dick's represented one of the brightest opportunities. The positions offered competitive pay, teammate discounts and a Thanksgiving closure. With 14,000 openings across multiple brands and states, workers had numerous locations and formats to choose from depending on their interests and geography.

The October 22 National Signing Day created urgency - candidates who showed up ready to interview had the best shot at securing positions before they filled, and hiring continued beyond that date.

In a holiday hiring season defined by scarcity and competition for limited positions, Dick's Sporting Goods offered a legitimate bright spot - proof that some retailers were still betting on people rather than just squeezing more output from smaller teams.

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