IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) I'm opening this one up as a general topic following on from a "discussion" I've been having on the Leicester thread and their range of Championship & Shield winning merchandise available from the "Club Shop", which in my opinion is woeful. I've been to all the club sites and seen what's on offer elsewhere and to my surprise the results were very different. I've not gone digging too far and only looked for links from the club's website home page Premiership: Belle Vue: Pretty basic compared to the best but better than most Ipswich: No club shop Kings Lynn: No club shop Peterborough: Disappointing Sheffield: Pretty basic Wolverhampton: Pretty basic Championship: Berwick: No club shop Birmingham: No club shop Eastbourne: AMAZING! One of the clubs that all others should be aspiring to be like Edinburgh: Pretty good... I do like the look of those tartan shirts! Glasgow: Shop coming soon, disappointed in that, I expected better from Glasgow Kent: No club shop Leicester: Pretty basic, hardly anything cashing in on the clubs success Newcastle: No club shop Plymouth: Quite impressive from the newcomers, very similar to the Eastbourne offerings Poole: AMAZING! One of the clubs that all others should be aspiring to be like Redcar: Shop on website showing nothing available Scunthorpe: No club shop Some clubs seem to be running their own merchandise operation and others have subbed out their operation to a company called Jaybea designs who look like a from the bedroom using a mobile phone company. There's money to be made in club merchandise and many don't seem to have cottoned on (forgive the pun) to this. It's easier than ever in the age of the internet to get merchandise produced and sold. Some clubs are not even offering branded face masks in a global pandemic... Some people wouldn't know a business opportunity if it walked up to them and hit them in the face shouting "I'M A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY". Edited July 30, 2021 by iainb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 I think jaybea's business model must be pretty robust as jaybea have been the main provider of speedway merchandising to tracks for the last two decades. There can also be a considerable difference between buying online and buying at the track. Some have nice shops (Belle Vue) others are just a table on the terraces. Several tracks were completely without trackside purchase opportunities until recently due to covid regulations. The real problem is that as fanbases contract the market for club branded items shrinks to the point where it becomes uneconomic to run anything other than a print on demand operation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 It would be interesting to know whether the excellent offerings of Poole and Eastbourne are actually reflected by visibility of these items on the terraces. Didn't Poole recently have a pop up shop at a shopping centre for pre Christmas merchandise celebrating one of their Championship victories? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) 11 minutes ago, arnieg said: I think jaybea's business model must be pretty robust as jaybea have been the main provider of speedway merchandising to tracks for the last two decades. I'm sure it works very nicely indeed for Jaybea. Does it work for speedway in general and the club individually though? If I were a club that didn't want to do my own merchandise I'd be looking to sub it out to Eastbourne or Poole! Edited July 30, 2021 by iainb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 5 minutes ago, iainb said: I'm sure it works very nicely indeed for Jaybea. Does it work for speedway in general and the club individually though? If I were a club that didn't want to do my own merchandise I'd be looking to sub it out to Eastbourne or Poole! Poole run a good operation, with much more variety in their product range than most tracks. Isle of Wight have been the market leaders (I think they were the first to do facemasks by several months, and you can get Warriors coffee and underpants!). However contracting out undoubtedly remains the best solution for many clubs. Unfortunately since the passing of Dave Rattenbury there have been few alternatives and perhaps jaybea would benefit from a bit more competition. But sadly with the declining market size we are unlikely to see new entrants to the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 13 minutes ago, arnieg said: you can get Warriors coffee and underpants! I remember during Alan Grahame's testimonial year you could get "Big Al'" underpants lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenspoon Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 At Belle Vue, some of the fans jackets came out with the Ark, I doubt they will ever buy the modern ones. The problem is getting a jacket or shirt that you can wear other than at speedway, as some of them are far too gaudy, also that shiny material does not look good on someone with more that a trim figure. The design of the Belle Vue badges, is very boring, jus the club logo, gone are the days of John Jones, when you got a good variety of designs over the years, and please Belle Vue get rid of the badges with stud fittings. As I see it there will not be a new badge coming out for 2021, except for the year bar, I hope I am wrong, as being a saddo, I have collected speedway badges for several years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilWatson Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 30 minutes ago, iainb said: I'm sure it works very nicely indeed for Jaybea. Does it work for speedway in general and the club individually though? If I were a club that didn't want to do my own merchandise I'd be looking to sub it out to Eastbourne or Poole! Speaking from personal experience, going solo on merchandise is a big financial commitment with, overall, a very poor rate of return. Take shirts as an example - which sizes do you stock, how many of each size, what's the minimum order quantity, where do you store the stock, who sells it on your behalf. Then ask the same questions (except size perhaps) about each line of merchandise. A specialist like Johnny can deal with all these points through economies of scale and knowledge of the business. There is a good reason 'iainb' why four of the six Premier League Clubs choose to use Jaybea's services. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) 21 minutes ago, NeilWatson said: Speaking from personal experience, going solo on merchandise is a big financial commitment with, overall, a very poor rate of return. Take shirts as an example - which sizes do you stock, how many of each size, what's the minimum order quantity, where do you store the stock, who sells it on your behalf. Then ask the same questions (except size perhaps) about each line of merchandise. A specialist like Johnny can deal with all these points through economies of scale and knowledge of the business. There is a good reason 'iainb' why four of the six Premier League Clubs choose to use Jaybea's services. It's strange then that many riders sell merchandise, one assumes at a profit, yet clubs seem unable to make it pay. I wonder if Eastbourne and Poole make money from it and if so what they are doing right and with all respect to yourself what you were doing wrong? Perhaps a sport wide model is needed rather than individual clubs doing their own thing. Edited July 30, 2021 by iainb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 17 minutes ago, iainb said: Perhaps a sport wide model is needed rather than individual clubs doing their own thing. 100%.. Exactly the same way as the promotional plan should be one that is nationally targeted advertising the whole sport in the UK, not individual clubs doing their own thing for very minimal impact.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellevueace Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 Most speedway merchandise just seems geared for people to wear on the terracing, when i go in Man Utd shop everything is geared for general leisure ware for everyday use, i know theres a massive difference between speedway and football clubs financially but i would like to see more leisure ware type merchandise that i could wear socially not just at the track. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normski Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 Last merchandise i got at Berwick was a jacket, for which i asked just to be the logo and no sponsors as they can change every season and date your stuff. I wear my jacket obviously to the speedway, but can wear it to my local pub, and basically anywhere in general without it looking out of place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 25 minutes ago, bellevueace said: Most speedway merchandise just seems geared for people to wear on the terracing, when i go in Man Utd shop everything is geared for general leisure ware for everyday use, i know theres a massive difference between speedway and football clubs financially but i would like to see more leisure ware type merchandise that i could wear socially not just at the track. I am aware of one club that went down this road. They lost a shed load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 1 minute ago, arnieg said: I am aware of one club that went down this road. They lost a shed load. I'm aware of a supermarket that went bust... doesn't mean the model is wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 1 hour ago, iainb said: I'm aware of a supermarket that went bust... doesn't mean the model is wrong But it will be for those clubs that don't have sufficient time, capital and expertise. Hence Neil Watson's comment and the large number of clubs that settle for the Barber's fairly safe and pedestrian offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) 34 minutes ago, arnieg said: But it will be for those clubs that don't have sufficient time, capital and expertise. Hence Neil Watson's comment and the large number of clubs that settle for the Barber's fairly safe and pedestrian offer. Surely "quality" merchandise is part and parcel of "promotion" these days. It seems to be in most other sports. Have "the powers that be" approached a proper clothing manufacturer to produce it? In the same way that they do with the TV deal. It's not like clubs are in competition with each other with merchandise, a Glasgow fan is never going to buy an Edinburgh shirt and vice versa Edited July 30, 2021 by iainb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fortythirtyeight Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 7 minutes ago, arnieg said: But it will be for those clubs that don't have sufficient time, capital and expertise. Hence Neil Watson's comment and the large number of clubs that settle for the Barber's fairly safe and pedestrian offer. Very little time required, no capital or expertise really. Most clubs leave it to the company producing the items ( most good stuff for the GB clubs is produced in Poland ) to design the gear which can be ordered individually and paid for by the pre ordering fan . Just needs one person at the club to co-ordinate the sales and handle the profit margins for said club. Simples! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Fortythirtyeight said: Very little time required, no capital or expertise really. Most clubs leave it to the company producing the items ( most good stuff for the GB clubs is produced in Poland ) to design the gear which can be ordered individually and paid for by the pre ordering fan . Just needs one person at the club to co-ordinate the sales and handle the profit margins for said club. Simples! A lot of the shirts with any hint of a design are produced by a Polish company called dispeed. Edited July 30, 2021 by iainb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainB Posted July 30, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 I've just had a look at Nottingham Panthers (just picked them at random) Ice Hockey Web shop as speedway is often compared to Ice Hockey and well... their offerings put speedway to shame. Looked at a couple of others, similar story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topaz325 Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 Most individual rider merchandise seems to be better designed and better quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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