Club merch – merchandising for sport and why it matters

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Club merch is key to any sport. It gets members, parents and fans involved so that they become the club’s supporters and its walking advertisement.

Club merch – merchandising in sport – is a fascinating field, whether you’re a club member or a fan. Read on to find out why club merch is so important for sport and for individual clubs.

All over the world, selling club clothing and accessories is big business!

Having your own original club clothing is simply a great business opportunity for sports clubs. Not only does it raise awareness of the club among members and fans, but in the world of sport it can generate astronomical amounts of money for clubs. A great example is the world-famous football club FC Barcelona, which has more than 7,000 items in its club merch range and earns around €65 million from its sales every year. That’s an interesting number, isn’t it?

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Team spirit!

Original club clothing not only generates income, but also creates a bond and friendship between the club and its fans. Fans often ask how they could help the club at least a little. And it’s so simple. By buying from the club clothing collection, they not only support the club with a small amount, but also get a nice piece of club clothing that they will wear with pride, happy that they have supported their club. At the same time, a bond is built between the club – its members (players, athletes, officials) – and the fans.

At our club we don’t have the time, money, space or people to sell club merch!

That’s true! In Slovakia there are few clubs that dare to venture into the uncharted waters of selling their own club merch. Some have considered it, but in the end didn’t go for it. And the reasons? Here they are:

- PEOPLE - at best, a club usually relies on a few dedicated enthusiasts, at worst on just one passionate person who, with the huge number of things they have to take care of for the club, naturally has no time for another activity involving handling orders and sales

- MONEY - clubs in Slovakia are glad that, after so many years of low state support, they have at least enough for basic survival, and in most cases their representatives put their own money into the club to keep it more or less afloat. So even when they think about the fact that they have fans, and that the parents of children in the club have asked whether they could buy that T-shirt, jersey or sweatshirt, they conclude that they don’t have the money for the initial investment in buying clothing for stock to resell

- SPACE – STORAGE - another reason is that the club has no dedicated space for sales, no e-shop of its own, and in most cases the club is a civic association founded for the purpose of sport, not business. Where would the goods be stored? Who would hand them out to fans or parents, and when? How would the club issue a receipt for the sale? It all seems far too complicated for the club, so it would rather not go for it.

And yet there is a very simple solution. Take a look HERE

https://www.hypedress.eu/en/club-merch/

In 2024, when we started gradually building club merch together with clubs and actively helping them with merchandising their original club clothing, seven clubs joined us, and another two will join by the end of the year.

And in the next article I’ll write about how easy it is for clubs!