11 Comments

New megastore under pressure from Mike Ashley

image1 (4)West Ham’s new megastore, which was opened in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park by skipper Mark Noble this morning, is already being under cut by Newcastle United’s owner Mike Ashley.

His Sports Direct store in the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, which is a stones throw away from the new club stadium store is selling the new West Ham away shirt for £44.99 while the club charges a tenner more for the same shirt. Pricing for the 2016/2016 away shirt is £55 in the official stadium club store outside the former Olympic Stadium.

According to recent research, published in the Guardian it costs less than £5.50 to make and ship the £55 shirt with the club receiving around £3.30 licensing fee per shirt unless they sell it in the club shop. If the shirt is sold in the club shop West Ham’s cut jumps up to over £23 per shirt.

Average Breakdown (Where the money goes):

shirtManufacturing and shipping 10% (£5.50)

Retailer gets 37% (£20.35)

Technical Partner Umbro gets  26% (£14.30)

Club licensing fee 6% (£3.30) goes to West Ham

Distribution  2% (£1.10)

VAT  @ 20% (£11.00)

Total £55.00

So I guess all Hammers fans have a decision. Pay £55 of which £23.65 goes to the club or pay Mike Ashley and Sports Direct £45 and let him pocket £10.35 profit while West Ham have to settle for £3.30.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

11 comments on “New megastore under pressure from Mike Ashley

  1. Fair play to sports direct, I personally think £55 for a shirt is ridiculous anyway. Considering the little amount they probably pay for it.

    • Agreed, And if other shops want to sell it even cheaper then good for them as well.

      What next, don’t buy a pint at the pub before the game because none of that goes to the club, make sure to buy your pint in the ground as despite being 3 times the price it makes West Ham some money.

      Not every football fan is rich, most are just trying to make ends meet, just like every other average fan of football clubs.

  2. £44 is also ridiculous, which is why I’ve never bought a replica shirt. Ashley’s deal won’t do the club any harm because they’ll still make money off it anyway.

    • Read my update it makes a massive different to the club whether they sell it direct or Sports direct sell it. West Ham get £3.30 if SD sells it or around £23.65 if they sell it in the club shop

      • So what?

        Replica Shirts are way over priced anyway. Most people don’t have a lot to spend, but if they are going to buy a replica shirt then of course they are going to pay the cheaper price and they should not be made to feel guilty about doing so.

        Footballer, managers, coaches ect are paid vast amount of money to play (or work for) a game that most of us could only dream of playing. Not to mention all the extra money they get from various sponsorship deals.

        Do you really think a fan is going to stump up an extra tenner on an already overpriced item so it creates more money for the club so they can pay even more money to the already overpaid footballers.

        Perhaps West Ham aswell as other clubs should do the right thing and lower the prices of shirts and tickets ect and make them far more reasonable to the everyday working man/woman. Just a thought.

  3. Like has been said £55 for a cheaply made shirt is a rip off, if anyone does anything to bring the cost down all the better.

  4. Wow, anybody would think the club are a charity the way this article is written. Let’s not forget Sullivan is a billionaire and the entire playing staff and senior management are millionaires. They should be finding ways to embrace the fans not fleece them!

    So no I won’t be paying £55 for a shirt and I hope nobody else does either. But I also won’t be paying £45 to sports direct as I have bills to pay and food to put on the table. I do hope that is ok with Sean, C&H and the club.

    Little idea for next season. Let’s do away with replica shirts altogether and I can just give you £55 and the shirt off my back?

  5. I haven’t spent on a replica shirt for years,they are an absolute rip off.If some fans feel so strongly about it then buy from the club but surely any sane minded person will buy it at £10 cheaper.
    I’m sorry but you won’t find me shedding tears for the club when the shirt only costs just over a fiver to produce & they are knocking it out at £55.

  6. I’d happily buy the cheaper shirt. Was a big annoyance when the club brought sales in-house the other year. I guess they’ve made enough extra profit the last couple of seasons and are now happy to get shirts out on sale as widely as possible.

    Was told separately today the away shirts on sale at DW Sports, with a 20% discount for members at the moment.

  7. So the club could easily sell for under £40 and still make money while stopping Ashley in his tracks. Sounds simple to me.

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