Why We Wear It: the Football Shirt as a Badge of Identity

Abstract

Nowadays the football shirt is one of the most profitable marketing tools of the football industry. In five years alone, from 2007 to 2012, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona and Bayern München sold 30 million shirts (Sportintelligence, 2012). This is just the tip of the iceberg; the total number of shirts in circulation can only be guessed. It is undeniably true that the football shirt is one of the world’s bestselling and most sought-after sport and fashion accessories. Its market, on an upward trend for years, is still increasing, especially in Asia (cf. Financial Times, 2013; Forbes, 2015). Major labels, leagues and clubs profit from the fans’ desire to adorn their bodies with their club colours and the names of their favourite players. Today, expensive player transfers are partly refinanced through football shirt sales. For PR and marketing, the football shirt is a matter of critical importance (cf. Gottschal and Schuster, 2007, p. 319).