It was just an insignificant pre-season friendly match. Ajax Amsterdam competed in Cardiff, accompanied by a handful of fans. They promptly quarreled with those of the Welsh hosts. In order to avoid fisticuffs after the game, the police decided that the Ajax rioters may only leave the stadium when all other spectators have already left. To soothe them a little while the forced wait, the stadium control played a reggae hit by Bob Marley over the loudspeakers: “Three Little Birds”.
13 years later, the casual song about three little birds in particular and relaxed carelessness in general is the anthem of Ajax fans. In 2019, Bob Marley’s son Ky-Mani even came to Amsterdam to sing with the fans in the full stadium during the half-time break of a game. You have to know all of this to understand the hype that a new Ajax kit has sparked. Reggae fans call it “the Rastafarian jersey”. A black camisole with three birds and decorated with the reggae colors red, yellow and green. The design sparked worldwide demand, well beyond the Ajax Amsterdam fan base. The vest was sold out within 36 hours; Outfitter Adidas is already producing. “It has sold at least four times more than any other Ajax jersey,” said Menno Geelen, head of marketing for the Dutch series soccer champions.
Three Little Birds: The birds from the reggae hit by Bob Marley adorn the coveted Rastafarian jersey from Ajax Amsterdam.
(Photo: Adidas / oh)
Traditionally, summer is the time between two seasons when professional clubs change their jerseys. There are usually three variants per team: one for home games, one for away matches and a third jersey. One of them is exchanged every year, at least. The business model calculates with as many fans as possible who want the latest shirt and who pay for it. The prices for fan jerseys from top clubs start at around 90 euros.
But summer is also changing time for the players. And sometimes the transfer business is fueling the jersey business considerably. Like a few days ago with Lionel Messi. After the six-time world footballer moved from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain (PSG), fans of the French capital city club stormed the real and virtual fan shops. The jerseys of the US brand Nike with Messi’s name and his new jersey number 30 were sold out in no time. Rumors even made the rounds that PSG would sell a total of one million such camisoles and, given a unit price of 140 euros or more, finance the Messi deal. In view of the financial dimension of the transfer, however, this is just as utopian as the rumored sales figures. The Messi shirt will undoubtedly become the best-selling in the club’s history, PSG marketing director Fabien Allegre put a brake on expectations, “but we are far from selling a million jerseys”.
If two other kicking pop stars, Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo, change their employers these days, it will also trigger a jersey boom at their new clubs. In times of the pandemic, this is a welcome source of income for clubs and sporting goods manufacturers. “Sales of jerseys were of course significantly lower in the past season with their ghost games,” says an Adidas spokesman, without giving any numbers. If fans are not allowed into the stadium or at least in fan bars, they do not dress appropriately for the occasion. The tendency to buy an expensive shirt and watch ghost games on TV from the sofa is limited.
But buying jerseys also depends on the success of a team. When the German team beat Portugal 4: 2 at the last European Football Championship and this gave rise to hope for a successful tournament, online orders for the DFB jersey started immediately after the final whistle. By the way, preference was given to those with the name of Robin Gosens, who had shown an excellent game on the evening in question. But when the Germans were eliminated one match later, the demand for national jerseys collapsed immediately.
Bayern Munich sells more shirts than all other first and second division clubs combined
In the new season that has just started, fans are known to be allowed into the stadiums again, albeit not in the highest possible number. And demand picked up immediately. Not all clubs and suppliers benefit equally. Because the jersey business also reveals the growing economic gap between professional clubs. Only the big clubs with international charisma and corresponding stars make a really big deal. The usual suspects: Barcelona and Real Madrid, Manchester City and United, Arsenal and Chelsea London, Juventus Turin, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain. In non-pandemic times, Bayern Munich sells more jerseys in Germany alone than all of the other 35 first and second division clubs combined.
Average professional clubs can only dream of selling as many jerseys as a Messi, Ronaldo or Lewandowski can bring to their clubs. This is reflected in what suppliers pay them. While the top three in the sporting goods industry, Nike, Adidas and Puma, bring in a top international club 50 million euros or more per season, mediocre first division clubs usually have to settle for low single-digit million amounts.
In the current summer, business was boosted by a number of jersey creations, but the fans are divided on their appearance. The new FC Bayern third jersey is printed with mountain silhouettes. The one from RB Leipzig looks like someone has brushed a freshly painted wall with it in passing, and a map is even printed on the shirt of Atlético Mineiro (Brazil). Speaking of South America. Adidas gave the Boca Juniors a kit that is heavily modeled on the one from 1981, when the club became Argentine champions. At that time, a youngster named Diego Armando Maradona, who made it a world star, played there. Babies were baptized in his name in his honor in 1703. 40 years later, each of them received one of the new jerseys with a retro look as a gift.