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U.S. Senator Seeks to Block Dick’s-Foot Locker Merger

Elizabeth Warren worries deal will stifle competition, raise prices

Published

8 months ago

August 6, 2025

While Dick’s Sporting Goods has only about one-third as many stores as Foot Locker, its annual revenues are about $5 billion more. Photo: M. Suhail/iStock by Getty Images

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is calling on two federal agencies to consider blocking Dick’s Sporting Goods’ planned acquisition of Foot Locker, report a variety of news sources, including CNBC. Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, wrote in a letter to Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice that the merger could cut jobs, raise prices and reduce competition.

“Dick’s and Foot Locker currently compete with each other and with independent retailers to secure deals with suppliers,” Warren wrote. “The new giant would have significantly increased power to extract favorable conditions with manufacturers. This could mean that independent retailers are at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating with suppliers, which could give Dick’s and Foot Locker an incentive to engage in anticompetitive conduct to restrict suppliers from dealing with independent retailers.”

Warren worries the $2.4 billion tie-up, which the retailers unveiled in mid-May, would also be bad news for consumers. “This [deal] is particularly concerning given that more than half of parents ‘plan to sacrifice necessities, such as groceries,’ because of rising prices for back-to-school shopping,” she wrote, citing a July survey from Credit Karma. “Higher prices on athletic footwear could lead to further economic hardship for parents.”

It is not known how the FTC, under President Trump’s administration, will view the merger, CNBC reports. So far, his administration has approved at least one deal blocked by previous President Joe Biden – Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel – but it’s unclear how new leadership at the FTC and DOJ will view mergers in the retail industry, which can have a major and immediate impact on shoppers.

As of this posting, neither Dick’s nor Foot Locker had responded to Warren’s concerns.

Pittsburgh-based Dick’s and its affiliated brands operate about 850 stores and had just under $13 billion in revenues during its 2024 fiscal year. New York’s Footlocker, by contrast, has 2400 stores and net annual sales totaling $8 billion in its most recent year.