Founded in 1998, Fogdog tried to become the online version of a sporting goods superstore. It sold athletic apparel, equipment, and gear online during the early e-commerce explosion. Fogdog went public in late 1999 during the peak of the dot-com bubble. Fogdog failed because they sold low-margin physical products that were expensive to warehouse and ship, they spent massive amounts of money on ads, they had difficulty competing against traditional sports goods retailers, and after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 investor sentiment collapsed. The company was sold for $40M in a distressed deal by Global Sports in 2000 after peaking at a $700M valuation in the public market.
