(The online newspaper): The chain has stores in both Asker and Bærum.
– We have not given signals that it is ok to set up non-real companies in order to be able to show reference prices. We have therefore not approved Sport Outlet’s practice as it appears here, writes Marit Evensen in the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority to Nettavisen.
Recently, Nettavisen has uncovered Bjørnafjorden company Sport Outlet’s controversial marketing, where the chain compares its own prices with artificially high prices from “competitors”. However, Nettavisen’s investigations show that these stores are owned by the Sport Outlet chain itself, through the company Dynamic Brands AS.
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Karl-Fredrik Tangen, senior lecturer at the Department of Marketing at Kristiania, was not impressed when Nettavisen presented the findings and was not afraid to say what he thought.
– If this is not already illegal, a new law is needed. This is exactly what consumers should be protected against, said Tangen.
Claimed the trail was clean
Managing director Tor André Skeie recently claimed to the magazine KK that everything was in perfect order.
– Now we use measures that the Consumer Protection Authority has said are ok. We keep our path as clean as possible, Skeie told KK.
But to Nettavisen, Skeie explains that he is referring to a case from the Markets Council in 2017. At that time, Sport Outlet was accused of using prices from the website Scantrade.no as artificial comparison prices.
The consumer ombudsman believed the prices were not real because Scantrade essentially functioned as a wholesale portal with minimal sales to ordinary consumers.
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Sport Outlet won because the Markets Council believed that as long as the website had an open purchase button for everyone, the prices were to be considered a real purchase opportunity.
– At the time, the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority did not agree that we could do it the way we did, and that is why it became a case. It was a case where we won the way it was done, explains Skeie.
However, Scantrade is not owned by Sport Outlet itself. The Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority now denies that they have given the company a “thumbs up” to use the marketing method they use today.
Evensen also emphasizes that they only provide guidance, not pre-approval of business models.
When asked about Sport Outlet’s claim to keep the “path clean”, the answer from the inspectorate is crystal clear.
– If it is true that the stores are not real and have only been created to generate reference prices, then we believe that this is illegal.
Marit Evensen in the Consumer Protection Authority does not agree that they have given Sport Outlet the green light.
Photo: Consumer Authority
The reaction comes after the Consumer Council has sent a comprehensive, formal tip to the supervisory authority. In the tip, which Nettavisen has gained access to, Sport Outlet is directly accused of an “attempt to circumvent the regulations”.
– The Consumer Council has tipped off the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority because we are concerned that Sport Outlet may give consumers a misleading impression of how good the offers actually are. When the prices are compared with high prices in online stores that Sport Outlet itself controls, there is reason to question whether the price advantages are real, says consumer lawyer at the Consumer Council, Nora Wennberg Gløersen, to Nettavisen.
Consumer lawyer at the Norwegian Consumer Council, Nora Wennberg Gløersen, confirms that they have now sent a formal tip to the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority about Sport Outlet’s pricing practices. She fears that customers are being misled.
Photo: Consumer Council
Sport Outlet may risk a fee
The inspectorate now confirms that they have received the extensive tip from the Consumer Council and will assess the matter in more detail.
– If the traders break the Marketing Act, they risk an infringement fee, writes Evensen.
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The Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority clarifies that even if companies in the same group can technically compare prices, the comparison must be real.
– This includes, among other things, that the competitor and the price it is compared with must be a real alternative for consumers, the inspection states.
Nettavisen’s investigations show that Dynamic Brands AS had a total turnover of only NOK 107,000 in 2024. In comparison, Sport Outlet Holding AS, which owns Sport Outlet, had a turnover of NOK 1.9 billion.
– There is a real buying opportunity, and the customers have it. It is not the scale or turnover that matters, but that it is a real opportunity, says Skeie, who is general manager of both Sport Outlet and Dynamic Brands.
Managing director: – It will affect turnover
According to Dynamic Brands’ website, the company runs 18 different online stores.
– As we have developed, we have bought brands and suppliers. This has led to us owning brands that have sold goods online. When we sell at half price at Sport Outlet, it will affect turnover at the branded online stores, says Skeie.
When asked about the extremely low turnover in these stores, he explains it as a lack of effort.
– We want to sell as much as possible from those pages, but we simply haven’t been good enough on the websites yet. However, they are getting better and better. Profiling has become more important, so sales have increased. As with other large chains, there are different types of sales channels, he says.
In this customer newsletter, Sport Outlet compares its price of NOK 495 with a price reference from vikafjell.no of NOK 1,999. Nettavisen’s investigation shows that Sport Outlet itself owns and controls Vikafjell.
Photo: Anette Andersgård Helle (Nettavisen)
Now the Sport Outlet manager warns that they will take action to avoid misunderstandings. They plan to post information in customer newsletters and on their websites so that people understand what they are referring to.
– No one should feel cheated, and we will clarify this. We won’t make it in the next newspaper, but we will include an explanation so that everyone understands what the connection is, he says and adds:
– We have an orderly marketing. The “yo-yo prices” you see with many others make different customers winners and losers. Having different sales channels is a fairly normal situation.
However, Nettavisen’s review of the Facebook pages of several of these reference stores shows a different picture of the “investment”: At several of the stores, there has been no sign of life or activity since 2021.
date:2026-02-08 13:51:00