Following last month’s announcement of the Premier League team kits for 2024/25 and ahead of the League starting on the 16th August, Corsearch, a global leader in trademark and brand protection, has revealed that the online market for counterfeit football shirts for Premier League clubs has risen to £180 million per year.
This illicit market has grown to equal over a third of the market for legitimate kit sales: during the 2022/2023 season, Premier League clubs recorded a total revenue of £489 million from shirt sales,2 compared to the £180 million market for counterfeits.
Across all clubs in the Premier League, criminals are producing and selling an estimated 16.2 million shirts per year, with an average price of £11 per shirt, compared to legitimate sales of 10 million shirts per year, at an average price of £76.50.3 This means that, on average, counterfeits are being sold 86% cheaper than legitimate football shirts and there are over one and a half counterfeit shirts in circulation for each real shirt sold.
As a result, Premier League clubs and kit manufacturers are losing an estimated £246 million in football shirt sales per year, not including the significant brand damage that such counterfeits deal to a club’s reputation.
Value of counterfeit sales rivals legitimate market
Over recent years, due to fan pressure and recognition of affordability issues, some clubs have started to offer a range of kits at different price points. However, the counterfeits available online undercut even the more affordable offers, stealing revenue from the clubs and placing their brand reputation at severe risk.
Counterfeit merchandise is associated with poor working conditions, reduced customer safety (as many are made from flammable material) and are of low-quality. Clubs, their sponsors, advertisers and affiliated brands all suffer when associated with such unsafe products, that often have connections to serious organized crime.
The loss of revenue from counterfeiting could also have an indirect effect on a club’s position in the League Table, with clubs docked points under Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) should they post losses over £105 million over three seasons.
Club merchandise is notably sensitive to trends and results as the League progresses, with victories matched with surging sales. Clubs that only implement a brand protection strategy after a winning streak causes a boom in sales risk acting too late to protect their reputation, revenue and brand.
Increased searches for counterfeits
Official England football shirts sold ahead of the 2024 Euros cost £85 per shirt. This led to skyrocketing demand for fake football shirts for a fraction of the price. In the months leading up to the 2024 Euros, online searches for fake football shirts increased by a staggering 514% compared to the previous Euros in 2021.
Robert Cochrane-Gough, Strategic Account Director, Brand Protection at Corsearch commented:
“The market for sporting club merchandise is unique as fans desire a particular strip that represents their club, leaving no scope for ‘shopping around’ as they might with other purchases. It’s either official or counterfeit.
“While Premier League teams are looking towards trophies and success, the brands behind them are facing their own off-field battle in trying to protect their club identity and revenues. Whether through merchandise, tickets or sponsorship, every pound earned by a club is in some way thanks to its fans. As football supporters and fans of the club, we should not be fans of fakes.
“Faced with such a growing illicit market, clubs have been turning to organizations such as Corsearch, with AI solutions and expert advisors, to tackle the problem intelligently and then scale this solution effectively. Brand protection cannot afford to be an area that clubs take lightly; using tech-driven tools to hit counterfeiters at the source is the optimal solution, taking down illegal networks to prevent brand and financial damage.”
