The 2010 World Cup sets ball rolling for sports merchandise

June 30, 2010 - PRLog -- The 2010 World Cup sets ball rolling for sports merchandise.

Sports merchandise is set to get a big kick in India. With global sporting events like the FIFA 2010 2010 World Cup driving up the frenzy among fans, the industry is hoping to notch a 20-45 per cent growth in the current year. Interestingly, the growth is happening both in the organised as well as unorganised category.

“The trend gained momentum since the Indian Premier League. However, the FIFA 2010 World Cup has set the ball rolling in a big way in India as well. Team merchandises are available not only in stores but also online portals,” a retail analyst said adding even neighbourhood stores were witnessing a surge in demand.

Wholesale markets in Delhi's Sadar Bazaar and Mumbai's Crawford Market too are doing brisk sales of related paraphernalia like keychains, bags, jerseys and even tiffin boxes.

Demand encouraging

Mr Sanjay Gangopadhaya, Marketing Director, Nike India, said, “The demand for football apparel, footwear and merchandise is very encouraging. Nike is committed to leveraging the brand as a catalyst to mobilise youth and effect change.
Detail: http://www.cn-center.com/article_cat-12-News.html



The merchandise is not limited to apparel but also to jewellery.

Mumbai-based diamond company Shrenuj has inked an agreement with Israel's SWA Trading for developing and marketing sports diamond jewellery for football fans.

“We are doing this through our many partners in football, both individual athletes and teams. There is no greater opportunity than the World Cup to amplify sport and engage with football fans around the world. Nike's strategy is to connect with footballers through unique retail and online experiences.”

The company has brought out a series exclusively to cater to the football frenzy. “All the national team kits (which Nike is involved with) have been designed with each country's national culture and identity in mind. Nike understands the pride athletes experience playing for their country, so each kit has been designed to represent the heritage and unique football culture of the nine national teams,” he said, adding the jerseys are priced at Rs 2,795 and the studs are priced at Rs 3,700-11,900.

The high price notwithstanding, the merchandise is generating huge interest not just among men but also women and children, he said. Companies are also developing communication around these events and also promoting deals around the events.

Positive impact

According to Mr Ravdeep Singh, CEO, Planet Sports, “We expect the football fever to have a positive rub off on the customer walk-ins and eventually higher throughput from our stores. We see a positive impact given the back-to-back sports season starting from IPL and going up to FIFA and subsequently the Commonwealth Games. We will not be in a position to put exact numbers to the same. However, we expect a 20 per cent jump in customer walk-ins thereby contributing to increase in sales and revenue.”

The Future Group company has also introduced FIFA special lines in sync with its partners Adidas and Puma, in addition to the football offers. Mr Singh said the company was witnessing maximum growth from apparel followed by footwear.



Shrenuj will make special diamond cuts to resemble the logo of the individual club such as InterMilan, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona and set in jewellery items such as medals, trophies, rings, pendants, and bracelets for the respective clubs.

# # #

Cn-center.com has been a worldwide business leader in selling blue-ribbon consumer goods since 2006. From the moment we founded http://www.cn-center.com, our vision were to empower people worldwide in buying and selling online.