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Supporters and sponsors swindled by jersey prices

12th March, 2012
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12th March, 2012
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I walked past a sports good store today to see that they had slashed the prices on English football shirts and, as a consequence, they were now going for £40.*

One of the first things you realize upon moving to a different country is that converting prices back to Aussie dollars is a pointless game.

You’ve got pound sterling in your pocket; working out how much something would cost in Aussie dollars doesn’t make anything cheaper or more expensive.

But £40 for the official England shirt? I couldn’t help whip out the phone and do a quick calculation – it’s about $60. I didn’t buy one, but surely that was a once-in-a-lifetime deal?

But, after doing a bit of research, I discovered that was the going rate for a replica football shirt. Manchester United sell theirs for the same price, while Liverpool sell theirs for only £25.

I reminded myself that these are two of the most supported clubs, not only in England but in the entire world. They are selling their shirts to a pretty huge demand, which helps them keep their prices so low.

However I then had a look at rugby union and league shirt prices. These fluctuated between the £20 ($30AUD) and £50 ($75AUD) mark, for shirts in a country where football is the most supported sport and daylight isn’t just second but rounds out the top ten.

So it’s not a question of being a buyer’s market. Clubs in England just seem to want people to wear their support on their torso and make it affordable to do so.

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I then had a look at Australian jersey prices and did some more conversions. Your average NRL jersey sells for $160 (£110), as does a Super or International Rugby jersey. An A-League jersey costs $120 (£80), while an AFL singlet sells for $100 (£70).

These prices aren’t just outrageous; they’re stupid.

Rugby league prides itself on being the people’s game. Yet if you want to show your support for your team you have to part ways with 10 hours of pre-tax work at minimum wage to wear a jersey which – thanks to modern sport’s revolving door of sponsors – will be out-dated faster than a Hypercolor t-shirt.

Quite what Australian clubs hope to gain from these extortionate prices is beyond me. Clubs should want home games in which their entire stadium are wearing the home team’s jersey, but the odds of that happening would probably be offered at the same return on a dollar as the cost of the jersey.

But let’s forget the emotive argument of support and instead focus on bottom lines. More people wearing a club’s jersey is good for the club’s coffers for two reasons.

Firstly (and obviously), the club makes money from their merchandise. While selling a million jerseys at a dollar apiece doesn’t equate to good business, selling a few thousand at $160 apiece doesn’t either. Clubs need to find the point at which they maximize their profits by selling the most possible jerseys at the lowest possible price.

Secondly, clubs make a huge chunk of their annual income from sponsors who pay to be advertised on the jersey.

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While these sponsors are thinking about their company’s name on the TV every time the club pours money into playing in prime-time, there surely must be an element of sponsorship which acknowledges people wearing the jersey when they go to the shops during the week.

As mentioned earlier, Manchester United and Liverpool are two of the most supported clubs in the world. While sponsors pay the big bucks to see their brand on shirts, worn by the likes of Steven Gerard and Wayne Rooney – playing against Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the fact that millions of people the world over wear their shirts is definitely a factor when these clubs negotiate their sponsorship prices.

Australia’s four football codes might never see any of their clubs scale to the dizzying heights the giants of European football have.

But charging the fans of these clubs a small fortune just to show their support is biting both the hands that feed them.

*To clear things up, I live in England. I now love warm beer, listen to Britpop, refer to the Queen as “Her Majesty”, but might just kill the next person who quotes a Fosters’ ad to me.

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