Barcelona tops jersey sales revenue, where are the rest?

Barcelona made a maximum of 17.9 million euros last year from the sale of jerseys and memorabilia Photo: Reuters

The practice of selling jerseys in European club football began in the mid-1970s. In 1973, Admiral produced the jerseys of English club Leeds United, the first sporting goods manufacturer to sponsor club football.

Leeds won the English league in the 1973-74 season after wearing the white stripe jersey made by Admiral. A traveling salesman happened to meet coach Don Revie at the Leeds training ground that season. The journey of selling jerseys started with his hands.

From that start, over the next five decades, the sale of club jerseys and other memorabilia, and the involvement of sporting goods manufacturers, has grown to such an extent that it is now one of the main topics in UEFA's annual report.

Leeds United team in historic white stripe jersey. It was through the sale of this jersey made by Admiral that its circulation began in European football Photo: Admiral Website

UEFA recently released its financial and investment report for the 2023 financial year. It appears that last year, Barcelona made the most profit from selling jerseys and memorabilia. The Spanish club earned €17.9 million from the sale of jerseys and memorabilia.

Barca has been in financial crisis since the time of Corona. They also could not renew the contract with Lionel Messi due to La Liga's salary cap policy. Wherever Messi goes, the spotlight falls on him. Naturally, he is the main face of advertising and the main source of income. So many may have thought that Barca's jersey sales will decline due to the release of the best player in their history. But the opposite happened.

The world's top two manufacturers, Nike and Adidas, have been ruling the sports equipment market for a long time. Nike of the United States and Adidas of Germany are also showing dominance in jersey and souvenir sales. Nike made jerseys and souvenirs for 5 of the 10 most profitable clubs, Adidas for the remaining 5.

5 of the 10 highest earning clubs are from England. Two from Spain and one each from Germany, France and Italy. However, last season's treble-winning Manchester City is not in the top 10 for the highest revenue from jersey and memorabilia sales.

Real Madrid is next to Barcelona in this list. Barca's arch-rival club earned 15 million 50 million euros. Bayern Munich is third with 14.7 million euros. Leeds United, the club that started selling the first jersey in European football, is at number 16.