Does Academy Sports + Outdoors pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Academy Sports + Outdoors employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Academy Sports + Outdoors. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Academy Sports + Outdoors?

50% of Academy Sports + Outdoors employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Academy Sports + Outdoors 3.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.1 for culture and values and 2.9 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Academy Sports + Outdoors?

Sales Associate (469) , Cashier (278) , Footwear Sales Associate (158) , Team Lead (154) , Apparel Sales Associate (120) , Retail Sales Associate (116) , Sales Associate/Cashier (97) , Team Sports Sales Associate (85) , Cashier Team Lead (75) , Manager (58) , Asset Protection Associate (55) , Customer Service Representative (52) , Associate (47) , Hunting/Fishing Associate (47) , Customer Service Cashier (46)

What are the pros of working at Academy Sports + Outdoors according to real employee reviews?

"Great people and Co" ((in 280 reviews)); "Great coworkers and somewhat relaxing job." ((in 181 reviews)); "flexible hours and great for college students" ((in 165 reviews)); "Good benefits and company discounts." ((in 161 reviews)); "Flexible Scheduling...usually okay with anything as long as you can work on the weekends." ((in 104 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Academy Sports + Outdoors according to real employee reviews?

"Poor management that is power hungry and more worried about control over their employees than achieving goals." ((in 458 reviews)); "Low pay and company should consider providing job rotation for whoever wants to take the challenge for career growth/talent acquisition" ((in 336 reviews)); "not too many hours public business now some managers are bad" ((in 217 reviews)); "favoritism is rampant and awful" ((in 76 reviews)); "No training at all or enough associates" ((in 53 reviews))

What are employees saying about Academy Sports + Outdoors layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Academy Sports + Outdoors layoffs and their outlook for job security at Academy Sports + Outdoors in 2026.

Academy Sports + Outdoors reviews

3.3

50% would recommend to a friend

(5,058 total reviews)

Steven P. Lawrence

49% approve of CEO

38% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (5,058 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Academy Sports + Outdoors has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 5,058 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Academy Sports + Outdoors employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Ventas al mayoreo y al menudeo industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews

1.0

May 22, 2014

Get some resume building experience then RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN

Team lead

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

6% match for 401k. Paid vacation based on amount of hours worked.

Cons

Extreme favoritism. Payscale is horrible. Employee turnover is ridiculously high (117%). Forget about having a work-life balance. Promotions are not based on your work performance, they are based on who you "know" (a.k.a the store director). Management structure is a joke (useless senior team lead position). No sense of reward for your hard work (incentive cards? ugh. gift cards to fast food places. disgusting.). Thankless job. There is no accountability for managers, they just push the accountability on their team leads and get off the hook. Managers are 95% of the time hiding in the backrooms texting on their cell phones or surfing the internet (especially on friday, saturday, and sunday). Reviews are disgusting. They do not even keep records of the great work you did throughout the year such as more option sales, customer compliments, etc. They just scramble a bunch of junk on to your review.

4.0

May 17, 2014

Really enjoy working at corporate HQ

Assistant buyer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great having a normal work schedule (as opposed to in-store type retail hours), yearly raise and bonus opportunities, having a good buyer to work for is key, great atmosphere at corporate.. Fridays are casual (with breakfast tacos in the cafe usually!) and those who work hard are acknowledged and rewarded. The company is rapidly expanding and there are so many opportunities to grow! Also if you're a person who prefers to live in the city, your commute will be opposite rush hour traffic. Occasional travel to see vendors is great for networking.

Cons

Apparently the pay is not as high as some nearby retailers (but the company culture more than makes up for it!) Parking is a headache at the moment as we expand. Also, cubicles are being thrown everywhere until the new building is completed. Work load varies greatly... some weeks are very low pressure and others require quite a few "off-hours."

3.0

May 14, 2014

Disappointing experience

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

You are able to work independently and the atmosphere is usually very laid back. Management works around school and second jobs.

Cons

I did not care for the management at this store. It was almost impossible to move up without going to another store that was over 50 miles away.

Viewing 4744 - 4746 of 5,058 Reviews

Jobs at Academy Sports + Outdoors