Sporting Life was founded in 1979 as a privately owned company by David and Patti Russell (husband and wife), and Brian McGrath. The three co-founders are enthusiast skiers at a private club and are actively involved in picking merchandise, with Mr. Russell into sports equipment, Ms. Russell to fashion; and Mr. McGrath focused on footwear. As of 2011, there were 270 full-time staff and 600 employees.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited bought a 75% share in the company in late 2011, with the founders retaining the remaining balance of shares. Sporting Life originally had four locations until their 2014 expansion. Their flagship store is located at 2665 Yonge Street, just south of Lawrence Avenue, and it contains 36,000 square feet over two stories, having been recently expanded in 2011. Their 2454 Yonge Street location, that was closed in 2019, used to sell mainly bikes and snowboards, with a limited selection of apparel. They also have a 42,000-square-foot anchor space at
Sherway Gardens, which relocated to a new wing in 2015 as part of the mall's expansion and renovation, while the original location was replaced by
Nordstrom in 2017. There is also a 10,000-square-foot location in
Collingwood, situated near
Blue Mountain, which was initially their only store outside Toronto. In 2008, Sporting Life launched its e-commerce website. Sporting Life's fifth and sixth locations opened in 2014, the first time in 14 years that they had opened a new store. Sporting Life had bought
Ottawa-based
Tommy & Lefebvre on June 25, 2013, and moved their staff from the
Bank Street location to their new store at a reconstructed
Lansdowne Park in October 2014. Another Sporting Life opened at the newly renovated
Markville in September 2014, replacing a
Sport Chek. In October 2018, Sporting Life opened their first store outside Ontario and Alberta at
Quartier Dix30, in
Brossard,
Quebec. In November 2019, Sporting Life expanded into British Columbia and opened first store in
Greater Vancouver at
Brentwood Mall. In late 2022, Sporting Life opened 3 new stores located at Carrefour Laval Shopping Centre in Laval, Quebec, Mapleview Mall in Burlington, Ontario, and Southgate Mall in Edmonton, Alberta. This will bring their store total to 13 stores plus e-commerce. At maturity, Sporting Life will grow to 18 stores by 2027. ==Clientele==