DICK’S vs myAcademy Credit Card: Which Sporting Goods Card Wins?

Research-based comparison: I haven’t personally held either card. This comparison is based on verified issuer data and research into real cardholder experiences. Verify all figures at the official issuer websites before applying.

The short answer is: the DICK’S Credit Card wins if almost all your card spending is at DICK’S stores. The myAcademy Rewards Mastercard wins once meaningful spend goes outside the store. A store-only shopper earns $90 a year on DICK’S versus $45 on Academy. Add everyday spending and it flips to $155 on Academy versus $120 on DICK’S. One condition decides that flip: if you already carry a flat 2% cash back card for everyday spending, DICK’S wins on every profile, because the only question left is the store itself.

Both cards charge $0 annual fee, so this is purely a rewards question. DICK’S is a closed-loop card that pays about 10% back at its own banners and nothing anywhere else. Academy is a real Mastercard that pays 5% at Academy and 2% everywhere else, with that 2% paid as Academy reward certificates (store credit, not cash). The honest question is how much of your spending actually goes through the store.

I ran three spending profiles below. The pattern is consistent: the closer you are to 100% store spend, the more DICK’S wins. On the heaviest profile the two cards trade places depending on whether you count Year 1 or the years after.

At a Glance

The two cards trade a very high store rate for an open-loop rate. Neither publishes a firm score cutoff, so read our guide on what credit score you need for a store credit card before you apply. Academy’s 3% fee is the standard foreign transaction fee, and DICK’S has none only because it can’t be used abroad at all. The issuers differ too: DICK’S comes from Synchrony Bank, Academy from Comenity Capital Bank, which is Bread Financial.

Welcome offers change, so check the current terms before applying. The APR row has one more wrinkle: Academy’s rate depends on your credit, while DICK’S publishes a single rate, so neither is “lower” until you know what you’d actually be offered.

How the Rewards Work

DICK’S Credit Card

The DICK’S Credit Card earns 3 ScoreCard Points per $1 at six banners: DICK’S Sporting Goods, DICK’S House of Sport, Golf Galaxy, Golf Galaxy Performance Center, Public Lands and Going Going Gone!. Every 300 points becomes a $10 reward, which works out to about 10% back. Rewards issue automatically as store credit in $10 steps.

There are strings. Rewards are capped at $500 a month, which would take $5,000 of monthly DICK’S spend to hit, so the cap doesn’t matter on any profile in this article. Unredeemed points expire 1 year after you earn them. And because this is a closed-loop store card, not a regular credit card, it works only at those six banners. Every dollar spent anywhere else earns nothing, because the card can’t be used there.

DICK’S also offers optional special financing on qualifying purchases: no interest if you pay in full within 6, 12, 18 or 24 months. That is deferred interest, not 0% APR. If the balance isn’t paid off in time, interest is charged retroactively from the purchase date. You also give up the 3 points and earn 1 point per $1 on that purchase instead. Read deferred interest explained and run your own numbers in the store card deferred interest calculator first.

One more thing to know: the DICK’S Mastercard is a separate application and account, not an upgrade. It earns the same 3 points at DICK’S banners plus 1% elsewhere, with a 3% foreign transaction fee. It isn’t part of the math below. For the full breakdown, see our DICK’S Credit Card review.

myAcademy Rewards Mastercard

The myAcademy Rewards Mastercard gives you a 5% instant discount at Academy Sports + Outdoors, in-store and online. There is no redemption step: the discount comes off at checkout. It excludes gift cards, hunting and fishing licenses, in-store services, and purchases split across more than one payment method.

Everywhere else Mastercard is accepted, it pays 2%, but as $5 reward certificates for every $250 spent. That has a catch. Spend under $17.86 a month ($214.29 a year) outside Academy and that tier earns $0. Certificates expire 425 days (about 14 months) after issuance, and the underlying points expire 14 months after posting.

The welcome offer is $30 off a first Academy purchase of $30.01 or more on the day you open the account, plus a $50 reward after $500 spent outside Academy within 90 days. Welcome offers change, so check the current terms before applying. The card has a 3% foreign transaction fee, a variable APR of 19.49% to 32.49% set by creditworthiness, and no intro APR. Applicants who don’t qualify for the Mastercard may be issued a store-only myAcademy Rewards Credit Card, which gets the 5% at Academy but not the 2%. Our myAcademy Rewards Mastercard review covers the rest.

The Math: 3 Spending Profiles

The assumptions, stated once. “Store” spend means spend at the card’s own store family, and I assume the same dollar amount at either store, so the comparison is about the card and not the retailer’s prices. “Elsewhere” spend can’t go on the DICK’S Credit Card at all, so it earns $0 there. That shopper would put it on another card, and I don’t count that other card’s rewards on either side.

DICK’S earns 10% on store spend. Academy earns 5% on store spend and 2% on elsewhere spend, paid in $5 certificates per $250, so the annual lines round down to whole $250 blocks. The monthly column in each table shows the straight-line 2%. DICK’S $30 bonus counts in Year 1 on every profile. Academy’s $30 off counts in Year 1 (assuming the first Academy purchase is $30.01 or more), and its $50 reward counts only when the profile has at least $500 of elsewhere spend in the first 90 days.

Profile 1: Store-only shopper

All your card spending is at the sporting-goods store.

Here’s the math…

Annual earnings:

• DICK’S: $900 x 10% = $90/year
• Academy: $900 x 5% = $45/year

Year 1 (with sign-up bonus):

• DICK’S: $90 + $30 bonus = $120
• Academy: $45 + $30 off = $75 (the $50 reward isn’t earned, since there’s no outside spend)

Year 2+ (ongoing):

• DICK’S: $90/year
• Academy: $45/year

Break-even: N/A. Neither card has an annual fee, so there’s nothing to recoup, and that holds for every profile below.

Takeaway: DICK’S wins, with double the ongoing rate.

Profile 2: Mixed, sports store plus everyday spend on the same card

You shop at the store and put everyday spending on the same card.

Here’s the math…

Annual earnings:

• DICK’S: $1,200 x 10% = $120, and the $4,800 elsewhere can’t be charged to it. Total $120/year
• Academy: $1,200 x 5% = $60, plus $4,800 / $250 = 19 certificates x $5 = $95. Total $155/year

Year 1 (with sign-up bonus):

• DICK’S: $120 + $30 bonus = $150
• Academy: $155 + $30 off + $50 reward = $235 ($400 a month outside Academy clears the $500 in 90 days)

Year 2+ (ongoing):

• DICK’S: $120/year
• Academy: $155/year

Takeaway: Academy wins. At this split, 2% on everything outside the store is worth more than DICK’S higher store rate.

Profile 3: Team-sports family, heavy store spend

A family buying gear all season, with a lot of everyday spending too.

Here’s the math…

Annual earnings:

• DICK’S: $3,600 x 10% = $360/year. That is $30 of rewards a month, far below the $500 cap.
• Academy: $3,600 x 5% = $180, plus $8,400 / $250 = 33 certificates x $5 = $165. Total $345/year

Year 1 (with sign-up bonus):

• DICK’S: $360 + $30 bonus = $390
• Academy: $345 + $30 off + $50 reward = $425

Year 2+ (ongoing):

• DICK’S: $360/year
• Academy: $345/year

Takeaway: Academy wins Year 1 by $35, and DICK’S wins every year after by $15. That’s a thin gap, and the two cards trade places on a single input, so I wouldn’t oversell it. If you already carry a flat 2% card for the $700, the picture changes completely; see the next section.

If you already have a flat 2% cash back card

The three profiles assume the card you pick is also your everyday card. Many readers already carry a flat 2% cash back card. Then Academy’s 2% adds nothing you don’t already get, and you’d get it in cash instead of Academy certificates. The only question left is the store: 10% on DICK’S against 5% on Academy.

Here’s the math: the 2% card earns (2/100) x $4,800 = $96 a year on Profile 2’s outside spend and (2/100) x $8,400 = $168 on Profile 3’s, the same on both sides, so the gap is simply 5% of the store spend. Profile 1 has no outside spend and stays $90 against $45. Welcome offers aside, DICK’S wins every profile once you hold a 2% card.

Where Each Card Wins

The pattern is store share of spend. DICK’S wins when nearly everything goes through its banners, and Academy wins as soon as a real chunk of spending falls outside. The three profiles bracket that: at $0 elsewhere DICK’S doubles Academy, at $400 a month elsewhere Academy leads by $35 a year, and at $700 a month elsewhere with triple the store spend DICK’S edges back ahead by only $15. So the line sits somewhere between a store-only wallet and a mixed one, and it moves with how much you spend at the store itself. All of that assumes Academy would be your everyday card. If you already carry a flat 2% cash back card, there’s no line at all: DICK’S wins on the store spend alone. If you’re still deciding whether a store card is worth carrying at all, our guide on whether store credit cards are worth it covers the broader question.

Who Should Choose DICK’S Credit Card

✅ A shopper whose card spending is nearly all at DICK’S, Golf Galaxy or Public Lands, like a team-sports parent buying gear every month

✅ Someone who wants the highest store rate and is fine taking rewards as $10 store credit

✅ A buyer planning a large DICK’S purchase who might use the 6 to 24 month special financing and can clear it on time

✅ A shopper who already has a card for everyday spending, so a closed-loop card costs them nothing

If this sounds like you, the DICK’S Credit Card is the right call.

Who Should Choose myAcademy Rewards Mastercard

✅ An Academy shopper who wants one card for gas, groceries and everything else at 2% and doesn’t already carry a 2% cash back card (Academy pays its 2% as Academy certificates)

✅ Someone who values a 5% discount at checkout with no points to track

✅ A new cardholder who can clear $500 outside Academy in 90 days for the $50 reward

✅ A fair-credit applicant comfortable with the 640+ estimate and a variable APR

If this sounds like you, the myAcademy Rewards Mastercard is the right call.

The Bottom Line

Here’s what I’d actually tell a friend who asked me this: count how much of your card spending is really at the store, and check what’s already in your wallet. If it’s nearly all store spending, take DICK’S. If you already carry a flat 2% cash back card, take DICK’S too: its store rate is double, and your 2% card already covers the rest in cash. If a meaningful share goes elsewhere and Academy would be your everyday card, take Academy. I’ve run the numbers, and store share of spend decides this one, not the headline rates.

Be honest about what you’re getting, too. DICK’S rewards are store credit that expires after a year, and Academy’s welcome offers can change, so confirm the current terms before you apply. Neither card is a reason to shop somewhere you wouldn’t otherwise. A 10% reward on something you didn’t need is still a loss, and a 2% reward on everyday spending is only worth having if you’d have spent the money anyway. Pick the card that fits the spending you already do, then let the rewards be a bonus on top. For other options in the category, see our best store credit cards.

Full details on each card are in our DICK’S Credit Card review and myAcademy Rewards Mastercard review.