Retail sales of football clothing increased by 27 percent to an estimated €422 million in the five major European countries during the first six months of 2006, according to NPD Group, thanks to the World Cup. At 70 percent, the biggest sales increases were recorded in France and Germany. In France, sales of football jerseys in particular enjoyed a fourfold volume jump to some one million units. Sales of footballs rose by 58 percent during the 2nd quarter. Sales of football shoes increased by only 2 percent in France in June and July, but while those of football-inspired footwear went down by 3 percent, spiked football shoes went up by 30 percent.
The corresponding figures for other European countries are not quite clear. Sales of football apparel went up by 30 percent in Spain and by 15 percent in the UK during the 1st half of 2006, according to NPD, while remaining steady in Italy, where the scandals surrounding certain big football teams did not lead anybody to suspect the country’s victory in the world tournament. However, some big Italian retail players scored better.
Italy’s largest sporting goods retailer, Cisalfa Sport, and the other stores affiliated with Intersport Italia saw their sales of football clothing jump by 84 percent during the March-July period, with Puma enjoying a 331 percent increase thanks to the sale of about 40,000 jerseys of the winning Italian national team. The retailers’ sales of Adidas and Nike football apparel rose by 27 and 18 percent, respectively.
The stores affiliated with Intersport Italia, which distributed more than 2 million football catalogues and ran plenty of ads in newspapers and magazines, also sold a total of about 180,000 footballs during the same 4-month period, including 100,000 World Cup branded items, resulting in a 58 percent sales jump in this category. Sales of Adidas’ balls went up by 42 percent, while Puma and Intersport’s private label Pro Touch brand did 33 and 28 percent better, respectively.
Football boot sales were up by 8 percent, with increases of 47 percent for Adidas, 10 percent for Nike, 20 percent for Diadora and 13 percent for Pro Touch. Sales of football accessories rose by 40 percent, including gains of 65 percent for Adidas, 28 percent for Nike and 15 percent for Puma.
