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When the match day comes again, the fan community walks towards the stadium wearing the jersey of their favorite club, with fan scarves around their necks and flags in their hands. Ultimately, she wants to express her passion for fashion and show that she belongs to the community. At the same time, fan articles create an even greater emotional bond between you and your favorite club. If the grandfather had placed the FCB home jersey, which was at the top of his wish list, under the Christmas tree for his six-year-old grandson from Basel, his heart would have been beating a little more red and blue from then on.
The merchandising business of Swiss football clubs is experiencing a bright period at the beginning of the season because new kits are being released for this season. However, the pre-Christmas period is also considered a busy period for fan paraphernalia business. For example FC St. “The Christmas business is important to us,” says Gallen. “Almost the entire product range has been purchased.”
British joke products conquer fan stores
In order to further increase the demand for gifts for football fans, some clubs are running special temporary marketing campaigns for the Christmas period. For example, BSC Young Boys kicked off their Christmas week with discounts on select fan merchandise. And many clubs had an advent calendar on their social media channels.
At the same time, completely Christmas-specific items are now standard in fan shops. The “Ugly Sweater” movement, which emerged from British humor, took root here as well. Half of the 12 football clubs in the Super League have “ugly Christmas sweaters”.
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This article was first published on the paid service of handelszeitung.ch. Blick+ users have exclusive access as part of their subscription. You can find more exciting articles at www.handelszeitung.ch.
Other popular fan items include Christmas-style scarves or hats, or Christmas tree decorations in club colors with the club logo on them. Some clubs are showing extra creativity when it comes to fan merchandise. BSC Young Boys, with a sign saying “Ho Ho Hopp YB!” He’s selling the “Mystery Bag” that says: FC Winterthur sells wrist warmers called “glismet in Winti”. At FC Basel, which is struggling from a sporting point of view, even in the fan shop it seems that the appearances on the field are currently in a bit of a “repair”. Interested fans can purchase knitting kits or an advent calendar craft set for a scarf, hat or gloves. And he can ask for divine football help to achieve more success with the FCB candle.
Christmas fan items aren’t bestsellers, of course. Instead, what’s true all year long is also true for the holiday season: Jerseys are by far the most popular. Some clubs prefer to settle for official figures. But one thing is clear: Football clubs, at least those with large fan bases, sell jersey quantities in the five-figure range every year; Individual prices for adult jerseys range from 90 to 120 francs, and for children’s sizes from 75 to 90 francs. F.C. St. Gallen announced that he will sell over 10,000 jerseys this season. YB has brought all 8,000 anniversary jerseys for men and women, which were launched on the occasion of Bernese’s 125th anniversary last March. He said the current champions sold around 18,000 jerseys in total in the 2023 calendar year.
Series champion dominates fan merch business
Football croissants from Bern are generally number one in the nationwide merchandising business of football clubs, as can be seen from publicly available figures. Last year, YB generated sales of 8.6 million francs from commercial activities, according to the Swiss Football League. This income item includes additional income in addition to the income from merchandising. But when it comes to the “product” business, value still proves the dominance of the five-time champion over the last six years.
FC Basel has already earned more than 3 million francs less in 2022, with revenues of 5.4 million francs from commercial activities. In other clubs the difference is even bigger. FC Zurich came with 3.8 million francs, followed by FC St. with 3.3 million francs. Gallen follows. The club, supported by small shareholders, shows sales figures separately in its annual report. Last season, the Eastern Swiss company achieved sales of just under 1.9 million francs at a cost of just under 1.4 million francs.
The gap between YB and the rest of the league will likely widen further, after all, sporting success is the main sales driver of fan gear. In the 2017/18 season, in which Young Boys celebrated its first championship after 32 years, the Bernese team doubled its sales compared to the previous season. Since then, revenue for the club has increased by a further 150 percent. Sales have increased fivefold in the last five years.
FC Basel, which has been in decline since its last championship in 2017, has at least compensated for the drop in sales due to the pandemic. According to FCB, sales will be at a similar level as before Corona and “the trend is increasing”. Last season’s Europa League semi-finals and the change of supplier from Adidas to Macron helped provide greater flexibility and individuality in the development and design of fan products.
F.C. St. Gallen proves that other factors besides on-field success can also factor into commercial sales. Having risen to sixth, second, seventh, fifth and sixth places in the last five seasons under the tutelage of current coach Peter Zeidler, the club is considered the sporting flagship of the entire region thanks to its strong focus on its Eastern Swiss roots. According to the club, store sales increased by 57 percent between the 2018/19 season and last season.
Fan items become suitable for daily use
The fact that football jerseys are now also a fashion product contributes to the fundamental rise of the retail industry. American stars with no known connection to football (prominent representatives such as Kim Kardashian, Drake and Snoop Dog) were photographed wearing the jerseys of leading European clubs. Local clubs do not have the international appeal of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United or FC Barcelona. Still, they benefit from the fact that fan paraphernalia is increasingly finding its way into everyday life.
The student from Bern goes to university wearing a YB hoodie, the banker from Zurich wears FCZ tights in the fitness center, and the SME owner from the Eastern Switzerland networks wears a plain FCSG polo shirt. Merchandise products have now become a marketing tool that affects fans’ free time outside of visiting the stadium. Accordingly, clubs are increasingly selling themselves as casual brands. The club, FC St. Gallen is also a “lifestyle brand with a cult character,” he says. “As a segment in addition to classic fan merchandise, we offer everyday fashion that aims to appeal to all our fans.”
In addition to clothing, clubs are increasingly focusing on culinary fan merchandise. FC Basel, for example, offers regional FCB gnocchi in club colours. FC Winterthur sells coffee served in the stadium bar. Young Boys sells yellow and black YB pasta. There are YB hazelnut gingerbread cookies under the Christmas tree for a fan experience.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
