As the sporting goods retail industry has continued to consolidate, one player has seen increasing growth — Academy Sports + Outdoors.

Today, the Katy, Texas-based retailer has more than 240 stores across 16 states.

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How to save money at Academy Sports

Academy’s bread and butter has always been sports and recreation equipment, but it also offers hunting, fishing and camping gear, plus patio sets and grills.

This is how you save big when shopping at Academy stores or online at their website…

Check for clearance items on the way in

Like many retailers, Academy Sports will feature hot clearance items as you walk into the store off the street.

Save 20% on a new bat

Right now through March 31, Academy is running a bat trade-in event.

Just bring your old bat to the store and you’ll get 20% off the purchase of a new slugger!

With new 2018 bat standards in effect for youth baseball, now is the perfect time to take advantage of this offer.

Look for the red ‘HOT DEAL’ tags

The words “HOT DEAL” below a price tag indicate there’s a temporary markdown on your favorite sporting equipment!

A 20-pound kettle ball we saw during a recent walk-through at Academy was marked down to $29.80 from $35.99.

You can also search for “HOT DEALS” online, as well.

Look for the blue-bottomed ‘PRICE DROP’ tag

You’ll often find even bigger price cuts on items when you see a blue tag that reads “PRICE DROP” at the bottom of a red-tag special.

In this case, we saw a $10 off deal on a pair of Skechers men’s sneakers.

In-store clearance racks will have you seeing yellow

There were several clearance sections spread through different departments at the Academy Sports we visited.

Fortunately, you won’t have to look too hard to find one. They’re all highly visible because of the bright yellow signage.

If you’re shopping online, Academy also has a dedicated clearance page.

Buy previously owned gift cards at a discount

Sites like CardPool.com and GiftCardGranny.com are legitimate places where you can buy unwanted cards at a discount from their face value. They’re sold by people who were given the cards as a gift but don’t want them. The sites take a small percent of the purchase price to arrange the sale between a seller and you.

At the time of this writing, the going prices for unwanted Academy Sports gift cards were all over the place. We saw everything from a .05% discount to a nearly 20% off face value.

So, it pays to always take a look at these sites if you want to save extra money!

Cards are typically guaranteed to work for up to 180 days after purchase, though be sure to double-check the policy carefully before buying.

Check for rebate offers online

The Academy website keeps a running tally of current rebate offers on its products.

Be sure to check this page after you make a purchase. You could be owned money you don’t even know about!

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