Global Licensed Football Merchandise Market is segmented By Tournament (Country, Club), Engagement (Sports, Entertainment, Fashion, Fans), By Type (Apparels, Home Decorative, Tableware, Accessories, Toys, Video games, Others), By End Users (Men, Women, Kids), By Distribution Channel (Offline, Online), By Region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa) – Share, Size, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2024-2031
Market Overview
The licensed football merchandise market size was worth US$ XX billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach US$ XX billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period (2024-2031).
The football licensed merchandise consists of clothing, footwear, accessories, toys, games, housewares, jewellery, dinnerware, cosmetics and various other products. The licensed merchandise helps promote the club or team and provides trademarks to the users, including franchise or league, taglines, logos, and help generate significant revenue to both licenser and licensee. The football merchandise is gaining popularity because of high engagement from football clubs merchandise and expanding products now including school bags, stationery, cups, and other miscellaneous stuff. The market distribution channel includes wholesale sellers, e-commerce, department stores, speciality stores and supermarkets.
Market Dynamics
The global licensed football merchandise market growth is driven by a high fanbase for football, increasing popularity of the club leagues and expanding product portfolio for licensed merchandise.
The increasing popularity of club leagues
The licensed football merchandise market is expected to drive with the increasing popularity of club leagues globally due to global broadcasting via sports channels, online streaming, and mobile streaming providing new opportunities to attract and expand the merchandise portfolio globally. The companies are now focusing on launching club merchandise with the increasing popularity of the tournaments. For example, in 2021, Online-first fashion retailer Souled Store has partnered with Liverpool Football Club to sell its licensed apparel in India. With this collaboration, the retailer has shifted into a new football merchandise category to strengthen its position in the country's fan merchandise market worth 1.5 billion dollars.
The market is also booming with demand for club jerseys of famous players specific. For example, in 2018, as Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus, the team successfully sold jerseys worth $60 million within 24 hours. In 2018- 2019, Manchester United sold shirts worth 3,250,000 million units.
Easy availability of fake products
The licensed football merchandise market is impacted by the easy availability of fake products in the market as these merchandises are sold for much cheaper rates than the usual retail price, they may be available in the market before the genuine goods are on general release and they are sold without official swing tags or labels.
Almost 65% of consumers denied purchasing licensed merchandise as they are easily available in the market at cheap rates. Moreover, according to the Red Points report, 2017, the number of detections on social media of fake football shirts made were 252,000 in 2017. These scenarios are responsible for restraining the growth of the global licensed football merchandise market in the forecast period.
COVID-19 Impact Analysis
Due to the pandemic, stakeholders across the licensed football merchandise industry have seen a notable impact as all the production work, factories and other activities were closed. The production was hindered by halts and supply chain disruption globally. After the pandemic, the governments still imposed various restrictions, such as working with half the workforce and fewer operating hours hindering the market's production cycle. The losses incorporated with various leagues' cancellations postponed new merchandise launches and hosted matches without an audience, leading to low audience engagement and interest. For instance, FIFA estimated the loss from COVID-19 is likely to cost $14bn, impacting the market's growth. In Europe, matches in the Champions League and Europa League were played without an audience in February; the Euro 2020 league formatted to be hosted by 12 cities across the continent was postponed.
Segment Analysis
By type, the licensed football merchandise market is broadly classified into apparel, tableware, accessories, toys, and others.
The apparel market is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period (2021-2028)
The apparel segment is expected to hold the largest market for licensed football merchandise market with new jersey launches of the famous football clubs. In 2020, Nike Air Max and football jersey culture delivered the ultimate hybrid of streetwear and sports with traditional identities for club third kits. The launch included FC Barcelona's kit with vibrant colours of the city and its famous beach, Atlético de Madrid's kit with vivid neon green and marble-effect graphic, FC Internazionale Milano's kit with inspiration from iconic Air Max, AS Roma's kit with the club's history of black jerseys and embracing the safari print. Also, In 2020, Puma has signed a new long-term partnership with Dutch football club PSV Eindhoven to provide the club's official kit.
Moreover, in 2021, Puma launched its Influence Pack collection featuring four individual football jerseys, each inspired by a city and its football culture. Puma has linked with Copa90, NSS sports, Season zine, and Shukyu magazine to design and create football jerseys crafted from the cultures of London, New York, Naples, and Tokyo.
Geographical Analysis
Europe region holds the largest market for the global licensed football merchandise globally
Europe region holds the largest market share for the licensed football merchandise market globally and is expected to continue its dominance in the forecast period with high popularity for football in the region. At present, the region has 37 professional football leagues representing more than 1000 clubs in 30 countries. The region holds the highest number of football fans and football club games as well. The market has been continuously growing with the increasing craze of fans towards the game and their favourite players.
The market has emerged with new product launches, partnerships and expansions in the region. According to the Brand Licensing Europe report, the sports industry now represents 10% of global sales for licensed merchandise, with expected sales of $27.8bn. In 2020, PUMA SA collaborated with football jersey designer company Football Gal to launch three customized FIGC football jerseys in tribute to Italian renaissance art and fashion culture. In 2019, LaLiga, the top tier of Spanish football, partnered with Global Crypto Offering Exchange and now users can avail exclusive brand tokens for the purchase of La Liga merchandise.
Moreover, in 2021, FC Internazionale Milano and Nike released its I M Collection by Nike, which includes the team's special-edition jersey. The collection pieces are brought together by a blocked, dazzling interpretation of the Nerazzurri stripes.
Competitive Landscape
The licensed football merchandise market is moderately competitive with the local player’s presence followed by the global companies, contributing to the major share in the market growth. In addition, some of the key players contributing to the growth of the market are Hanesbrands Inc, SBG Companies Limited, Adidas AG, Puma SE, Fanatics Inc, Nike Inc, Subside Sports, Columbia Sportswear, Everlast Worldwide, Newell Brands Inc, Ralph Lauren and others. The major players are adopting various new strategies to dominate the market, such as launching new products, acquisitions and collaborations, which are contributing to the growth of the licensed football merchandise market globally.
Fanatics Inc
Overview: Fanatics Inc is a licensed sports merchandise provider with the breed of the retailer, part tech, part logistics expert, part e-commerce company and part manufacturer. The company was formed in 1995 and is headquartered in Jacksonville.
Product Portfolio: The Company has various sports brands with high-quality products for all sports and seasons, including Fanatics, FansEdge, Kitbag, Majestic, WinCraft and others to serve the insatiable real-time appetite of fans worldwide.
Key Development: In 2021, Fanatics signed a 50-50 joint venture with Hillhouse Capital to expand its sports licensed market in China to Fanatics’ global partners.
Why Purchase the Report?
- Visualize the segmentation of the licensed football merchandise market by tournament, engagement, type, end-users, distribution channel and region, highlighting the key commercial assets and players.
- Identify commercial opportunities in the licensed football merchandise by analyzing trends and co-development deals.
- Excel data sheet with thousands of data points of licensed football merchandise market-level 4/5 segmentation.
- PDF report with the most relevant analysis cogently put together after exhaustive qualitative interviews and in-depth market study.
- Product mapping in excel for the key product of all major market players.
The global licensed football merchandise market report would provide access to an approx: 77 market data tables, 75 figures and 180 pages.
Target Audience 2024
- Service Providers/ Buyers
- Industry Investors/Investment Bankers
- Education & Research Institutes
- Research Professionals
- Emerging Companies
- Manufacturers
- Distributors, logistic companies, etc
