Abstract: Taking listedsports goods companies in China as research object, this paper analyzes the threshold effect of financial leverage on corporate value through the nonlinearpanel threshold model, aiming to investigate whether optimal debt threshold can maximize the corporate value. It is found that among the variables measuring corporate value, the Tobin q, which represents company internal intangible assets and future growth opportunities, has significant threshold effect, and the two mechanism influence coefficients divided by the threshold value are in positive correlation. While the rate of return on assets and the rate of return on equity, which are used to measurecorporate value, present a nonlinear and asymmetrical relationship in the threshold value interval, showing that an appropriate debt ratio can improve the value of listed sports goods company in China. However, when the debt ration is over a certain percentage, corporate value will decrease significantly. Therefor, the management should properly use financial leverage to maximize corporate value.

Key words: Sports Economy, Sporting Goods, Threshold Effect, Panel Threshold Model, Corporate Value, Financial Leverage