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Academy Sports + Outdoors

Engaged Employer

Toxic Leadership Culture With No Direction - Senior Manager Academy Sports + Outdoors Employee Review

1.0
Feb 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The few good people you will meet and ultimately trauma bond with just to get through the day.

Cons

Where do I start? Leadership at this company is seriously lacking. There’s a strong “bro club” mentality where advancement and favoritism depend more on who you know than what you contribute. If you’re not part of the inner circle, don’t expect to be heard or recognized. Management has a habit of demanding results but failing to provide the tools, resources, or training needed to actually achieve them. It’s incredibly frustrating to be held accountable for outcomes when you’re set up to fail from the start. Expectations are high but support is nonexistent. The work environment can feel downright abusive at times. Employees are pressured, overlooked, and undervalued on a regular basis. There’s little to no sense of direction from upper leadership — decisions feel scattered and inconsistent, leaving teams confused about priorities and goals.

Explore other reviews about Academy Sports + Outdoors

5.0
Mar 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Awesome team and coworkers, nice pay, store discount 😁

Cons

4am starting I don't have a car that's all I can think of really... I like the work

1.0
Apr 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The customers there were wonderful to talk to

Cons

Had to quit due to team leads aggressive attitude towards me. Also favoritism issues. I can tell they didn't like me since day 1. Today they came to me rudely about mistakes I made instead of doing it professionally. I haven't been there for long and I was still learning. I made a lot of improvements which I was really happy about, but was still learning. As much as I liked working there, the team lead was very rude/unprofessional towards me and it was so bad to the point I had to leave. The same team lead followed me outside and said "good" that I was leaving (in front of customers too). I was improving a lot in the position, I want to hear constructive criticism, but not like this. I was hoping to grow with the store and the company but unfortunately its not meant to be. This could've been 100% been prevented if only they would came to me professionally about this and I would be more than happy to fix any mistakes and do better in the future. But if this is how they treat their coworkers I do not wish to be a part of that toxic culture and headspace. Do better.

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