Rangers Merchandising

D

DezzaS

Well-Known Member
I'm a bit behind the curve on this one but I noticed a UEFA report issued about a mont ago on merchandising which lists the top earning uefa clubs in terms of merchandising and was a bit disappointed to learn that we were not on that list whereas the likes of Chelsea (8th), Leeds (16th) and the Bheasts (17th) were.

Now I know that theres been a lot discussed in the past about the Castore deal but surely we must be looking to break into that top 20 (or even the top 10 if a club like Chelsea can get in there) with our next shirt manufacturer deal once the Castore one runs out at the end of next season.

www.espn.co.uk

Which European clubs earned the most from kit sales in 2023?

Not surprisingly, Real Madrid and Manchester United make the top 10 of clubs with the highest kit revenues across Europe, but who else makes the cut?
www.espn.co.uk www.espn.co.uk


I tried to find an expanded lust to see where we were currently sitting but to no avail.although I did find the below article from a year or two ago that was very positive that demonstrated that we were neck and neck with the Bheasts on merchandising revenue and would, in fact, be ahead were it not for how they show the revenue in their accounts.

www.rangersreview.co.uk

Celtic accounting quirk keeps merchandising revenue ahead of Rangers

RANGERS announced a record revenue of £86.8m in the club annual accounts. However, it's still £1.4m less than Celtic due to an accounting quirk.
www.rangersreview.co.uk www.rangersreview.co.uk

I'm not sure of the timescales in terms of when shirt suppliers start to get considered as existing deals come to an end but surely someone at Ibrox must have a firm view of who we may be going with next?
 
Our merchandising is pretty dreadful broadly speaking so its no surprise to see us falling back.

All the more disappointing given the loyalty of Rangers fans and their willingness to spend money on the Club.

To be fair when you hand over all merch rights and operational control to a company who also do it for X other companies its somewhat taken out of your own hands in terms of outcomes. Ive long thought Rangers would be better looking to strike a deal that is more exclusive or look at an-house merchandising.

That would be more difficult to source and arrange but perhaps more fruitful in the longer term?
 
a_weir said:
Specifically re: Celtic… it’s because they report the figures as merch turnover, but we report as profit.
Click to expand...
^ this

And OP’s point about our “next shirt manufacturer once the Castore deal ends” - I’d be surprised if that deal isn’t extended.
 
Kirbys House said:
^ this

And OP’s point about our “next shirt manufacturer once the Castore deal ends” - I’d be surprised if that deal isn’t extended.
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t be shocked either, the big companies aren’t going to run our merch business nor would they invest in the infrastructure like NEH.
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately Rangers have always been miles behind other teams when it comes to merchandise.No imagination, no stock, the store over the Christmas period especially was embarrassing. Supporters desperate to purchase and nothing in the store. We need to wise up and offer a proper service.
 
If that figure is included in the FFP rules then it could be a reason we do leave Castore unless they can change how we are reporting on it, I imagine the difference between Gross revenue and the profit element we recieve is pretty huge and could outweigh the pain of having it back in house.
 
Alfie’s alright now said:
Unfortunately Rangers have always been miles behind other teams when it comes to merchandise.No imagination, no stock, the store over the Christmas period especially was embarrassing. Supporters desperate to purchase and nothing in the store. We need to wise up and offer a proper service.
Click to expand...
we really haven’t. When I was a kid we practically had an Argos catalogue full of stuff
 
Our current merchandise operations are literally money for nothing - very little effort on part of the club.
 
Alfie’s alright now said:
Unfortunately Rangers have always been miles behind other teams when it comes to merchandise.No imagination, no stock, the store over the Christmas period especially was embarrassing. Supporters desperate to purchase and nothing in the store. We need to wise up and offer a proper service.
Click to expand...
Always?
 
Alfie’s alright now said:
That was yesteryear ,we haven’t even stood still, we’ve gone backwards.
Click to expand...

One of the biggest issues in the last few years was Elite Sports Group going bust and awaiting the new company Sportspro Limited being created.

ESG were responsible for making or resourcing non clothes merchandise for 80-90% of UK clubs and Castore were in talks with them over them doing for Rangers and if the previous legal issues had any implications. Something that is over looked or not even thought about by most fans.
 
Gameboy said:
This is the key part, Celtic don’t include the costs of storing stock, running shops and everything else with it.
Click to expand...
Yeah I read that in the 2nd article. Quite interesting although apparently above board.

However looking at the likes of Leeds and Chelsea in there weve got to be selling a lot more merch surely.
deBoersHeader said:
It's been a while since we've had a Castore bashing thread.
Click to expand...

It wasn't meant to be a Castore bashing thread, Mr Bisgrove but thanks for your input.

I saw the top 20 list and wondered how far outside that we are especially give Chelsea are 8th which i find astonishing.
 
DezzaS said:
Yeah I read that in the 2nd article. Quite interesting although apparently above board.

However looking at the likes of Leeds and Chelsea in there weve got to be selling a lot more merch surely.


It wasn't meant to be a Castore bashing thread, Mr Bisgrove but thanks for your input.

I saw the top 20 list and wondered how far outside that we are especially give Chelsea are 8th which i find astonishing.
Click to expand...
Why are you surprised at Chelsea selling so much merchandise when they’ve been one of the most successful Clubs in the world for two decades and have gained “fans” from all over the world?

I don’t doubt for a second we outsell them in the UK but nowhere near them globally. .
 
Alfie’s alright now said:
Unfortunately Rangers have always been miles behind other teams when it comes to merchandise.No imagination, no stock, the store over the Christmas period especially was embarrassing. Supporters desperate to purchase and nothing in the store. We need to wise up and offer a proper service.
Click to expand...
I was at Coventry recently. Their store was miles ahead of ours. They had vending machines to personalise gifts and merchandise.
 
Our merchandising is Crap, and I’ve had dealings with them when diverse items could have been sold back 55. We basically have Castore, Castore, Castore, and some Alcohol, for those of us back to the 80/90s we were spoilt for Rangers themed items. As said those behind merchandising are narrow minded for the support.
 
DezzaS said:
I'm not sure of the timescales in terms of when shirt suppliers start to get considered as existing deals come to an end but surely someone at Ibrox must have a firm view of who we may be going with next?
Click to expand...

What makes you think we’ll be changing retail partner?
 
When we got to Europe league final we had plenty of merchandise in shop
We just have to up our game on merchandise especially home European games like scarfs and pennants etc
 
Kirbys House said:
^ this

And OP’s point about our “next shirt manufacturer once the Castore deal ends” - I’d be surprised if that deal isn’t extended.
Click to expand...

Indeed! I bet almost nobody can match the deal we’ve got with them… folk clamour for Nike or Adidas (purely for brownie points) yet they’re not going to be running our retail operations.

Rangers haven’t run our own retail operations since what, the late 90s/early 2000s?

JJB > Sports Direct > Elite/Hummel > Castore
 
Was great in bygone days when you had the shop on the Copland Road,a great selection of Rangers gifts,nothing in Edmiston shop worth buying unless your into shirts and training gear.
 
Hawkhead Ger said:
Why are you surprised at Chelsea selling so much merchandise when they’ve been one of the most successful Clubs in the world for two decades and have gained “fans” from all over the world?

I don’t doubt for a second we outsell them in the UK but nowhere near them globally. .
Click to expand...
Obviously blighted by my own personal view on the Club. Nothing against them btw, just dont really envisage them as having that big a reach/attraction.
 
Manfromdelmonte said:
One of the many Bisgrove failures and the quality of castore products is awful
Click to expand...
What is awful about it? Okay there was some teething problems at first but they are now a respected global brand.

Ive bought loads of Gym gear, Formula One Polos and its all been top class - better than many other brands ive bought.

They provide kits to 3 English Premiership clubs - Wolves, Villa, Newcastle. For reference Nike and Adidas both have 4 each. So only one less.

They have the current Europa League Champions Champions Sevilla, Current Eredivisie Champions (Feyenoord) and soon to be Bundesliga Champions (Bayer Leverkusen). Two of the biggest teams in Formula One (McLaren and Red Bull) .

Pretty much dominating the rugby market now with deals with Scarlets, Saracens, Bath and Leinster and have a partnership with Owen Farrell (similarly with Andy Murray in tennis)

Not too mention they have the contract with English Cricket which is massive.
 
a_weir said:
Specifically re: Celtic… it’s because they report the figures as merch turnover, but we report as profit.
Click to expand...
So the list a lot of shit then? Surely you use the same metric for both. The list is meaningless if they are cherry picking figures.
 
Manfromdelmonte said:
One of the many Bisgrove failures and the quality of castore products is awful
Click to expand...
Can you list the many failures. Don't include the Australia friendly because he done what he was tasked to do.

I see the rhetoric with Bisgrove quite a lot, and I just can't think of many failings. I'd be interested to know what was I'm failing to recall?

Not having a go by the way, genuinely intruiged.
 
I just wish our club would now look to evolve our social and fan engagement protocols. With such an active fan base they’re missing a major trick.

Imagine if they done completions for strip designs - so many talented bears and bearettes.

Imagine if we could vote on next seasons merch, less faff and pish and more brilliant stuff. Right now our merch looks like we’ve robbed a Rangers store from 1993. Basic, crappy, shite for the most part.

Imagine if we could get the things we actually want instead of “here’s your lot” - we’d buy so much more.

I know we’ve got other priorities but our social engagement for interactive and fan based brand evolutions is fucking dire.

20+yrs experience building brands around shit people actually need and want.

Rangers - it’s time to get a grip and fully acquire the true value capture of our brand.

Our fans are the most loyal in the world and there’s only few places we will happily spend every penny.
 
Lowrydrup said:
I just wish our club would now look to evolve our social and fan engagement protocols. With such an active fan base they’re missing a major trick.

Imagine if they done completions for strip designs - so many talented bears and bearettes.
Click to expand...
Public anything is typically a bad idea. Example: Boaty mcboatface.
 
SBC72 said:
Public anything is typically a bad idea. Example: Boaty mcboatface.
Click to expand...
You wouldn’t decide by committee. You would allow the conversation and competition to take place but the final decision would be the club’s (ie the brand, marketing etc directors).

I’m confident our fans could come up with some brilliant ideas.
 
Can't imagine Bisgrove would miss an opportunity to squeeze more money out of a contract. We need to remember the Castore deal came out of the SD shambles.
 
Comparing the 2023 annual reports. Our retail income is 7.2m and theirs is 22.2m

I believe there are next to no costs with ours. They will have staff, inventory, real-estate and IT costs. Hard to say if that amounts to more or less than 15m. Our staff costs are higher overall. They mention that they have 680 admin and retail employees. They have "Cost of Inventories" expense of 14.9m - I'd guess that this is where the expense for the merch they sell ends up, but no idea what % of that is retail. All of it?

Note that they get income directly from Adidas, and I think this is not included in the above numbers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Latest posts

Back
Top