Some sports retailers in Russia registered a hike in sales just before and during the recent Fifa World Cup, but local analysts believe that the real effect on the market has yet to come.
For example, Adidas registered record-breaking sales in the first three days of the tournament. The turnover of the company's biggest store in Moscow jumped four times above expectations on the day of the opening match.
Nike saw its sales of sports goods related to the World Cup increase by 7.2 percent in units and by 30 per cent in value from April to June, according to local sources. Sales of various football products, such as balls and football apparel, were up six times over in units and ten times over in value as compared to the average level of the previous months.
Several months prior to the event, major Russian sports retailers like Sportmaster and Decathlon started selling some products carrying the World Cup symbols. In most cases, these products will remain on sale until the end of the year.
However, overall sales of football-related products increased only slightly in Russia prior to the World Cup, according to research conducted by NPD. Sales of football apparel and boots were only 5 per cent higher year-on-year in the trailing 12-month period through March 2018.
In the past, the World Cup has made a more noticeable impact on the sports goods market outside the countries hosting the event, NPD said. For example, during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, sales of football clothing and footwear were up by 9 per cent and balls by 30 percent in the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and Italy.
According to various analysts, there will be a delayed effect from the World Cup on sales of football shoes and clothing in Russia. The market's demand concentrated on souvenirs related to the event rather than the actual gear because people were watching football instead of playing the game.
On the other hand, the Russian market for performance-oriented football products is expected to rise gradually in the coming years because of increased interest in the game among the general population and the availability of new infrastructure. A similar pattern could be observed in the years that followed the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where the demand for skis and the related gear has been growing steadily.
Excluding counterfeits, sales of football clothing and shoes currently amount to about $110 million a year, representing only an estimated 2.7 per cent of the Russian sports goods market, against 3.3 per cent on average in Europe.
