[17][18] Richard "Dick" Stack started the company as a fishing tackle store in Binghamton, New York, in 1948.

[20][21] Edward W. Stack and his siblings purchased Dick's from their father in the early 1980s,[22] when the company had two locations in Upstate New York.

[23] Stack established a board of directors, opened additional stores, and relocated the company's headquarters to Pittsburgh in 1994.

[24] He became chairman and chief executive officer following his father's retirement in 1984, and led the company during its initial public offering in 2002.

[37] After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, Dick's stopped selling assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and increased the minimum age for purchasing guns to 21.

[7][12] Dick's-branded stores had suspended assault-style weapon sales following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, but the guns were still available for purchase at Field & Stream locations.

[40] The most recent, in Conklin in Southern Tier, New York opened in January 2018,[41] and was further expanded to fulfill online sales a few months later.

[44] Dick's opened its first "House of Sport" concept stores in Victor, New York, and Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2021.

[45] The stores are larger than Dick's flagship locations, sell higher-end gear and include features such as an outdoor turf field and track, climbing wall, batting cages, and a digital golf range.

[46] Dick's also launched Public Lands in 2021, a chain of stores that focuses on outdoor recreation including camping, hiking, and biking.

[48][49] In 2022, Dick's Sporting Goods launched DSG Ventures, an investment fund worth $50 million.

[55] Dick's acquired Golfsmith, the largest golf retailer in the United States, at a bankruptcy auction in October 2016.

Dick's employed approximately 200 Team USA athletes competing in 35 different Olympic and Paralympic sports as of March–July 2016.

[86] That same year, Dick's subsidiary GameChanger signed a deal with Major League Baseball to promote youth sports.

The campaign partnered with Nike, Inc., to feature athletes such as Mike Trout, A'ja Wilson, and Carmelo Anthony.