Football jersey sales soar as World Cup fever grips city

Bengaluru

As the last four countries booked their places in the World Cup semi-finals, Bengalureans also saw their favourite teams progressing through the tournament. Football fans in the city have proudly donned the colours of Argentina, Brazil, France, England, Portugal, and Spain in support, and local businesses have gained immensely from the frenzy. Argentina is arguably the most sought-after and popular of all the teams, and much of this has to do with one man—Lionel Messi. “Argentina is the most popular choice for both kids and adults.

Messi has a huge fanbase independent of Argentina as well. We started stocking the kits in November, and when he came to visit in December, we completely sold out. When the World Cup started, we sold out again, so we don’t have many Argentina shirts right now,” said Nishchay, who works at the Adidas store on Brigade Road. He added that while there was no distinct uptick in sales after every single game Messi scored in, there certainly was a massive surge when the tournament kicked off.

The other two big teams that Adidas sponsors shirts for are Spain and Germany. However, there is not as much demand for these jerseys, except among a few adults. Rivalling the Argentinian surge is the darling of the football world, Brazil. The two nations also rival each other through their kit manufacturers, with Brazil’s jerseys being produced by Nike. The only similarity between the two brands was that both sets of shirts were gobbled up by fans quicker than the stores could restock them.

“We don’t usually stock football kits at this location, but we brought them in just for the World Cup. The Brazil and France kits sold out very fast. Within a month of receiving them, they were completely gone,” said Hidayath, the sales manager at a Nike store. He went on to explain that the store had received jerseys for four nations: Brazil, France, England, and the Netherlands. All were sold out, except for the Netherlands. Another jersey that flew off the shelves was Puma’s Portugal kit.

Jeevan, at the Puma store, said that even though they manufactured for only a few countries, Portugal was the big one due to Cristiano Ronaldo’s enduring popularity. “Portugal’s jersey is still in high demand; just a while ago, two guys came in asking for it, but we had to tell them we are sold out right now,” he said. He added that the demand began the moment the stocks arrived. “We started stocking about two weeks before the World Cup, and people started buying the jerseys right from then. It is mostly young people who buy them,” Jeevan said.

The jersey market has been booming, even though each branded replica shirt retails between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000. While the authentic branded versions are limited in supply, the counterfeit market, with its higher stock levels, is also benefiting tremendously. “The most popular ones we are selling are Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and Portugal. Our business increased by about 50% to 70% during the World Cup,” said Khalid, who runs a small first-copy jersey shop on Brigade Road. Though the shop is small, the collection on display is vast. They even have fake replicas of less popular countries like the USA and Japan, as well as the third kits of several teams.