From 11 June, football fans will be tuning in for more than a month of World Cup action, as matches are played across the three host countries of Canada, Mexico and the US. Forty-eight teams are competing and many fans will be wearing replica football shirts in the stadiums – including fans of England and Scotland, who have both qualified. However, some fans argue that kits are too expensive. On the website of Nike, which makes the England team’s kit, the cost of buying a replica England shirt is £64.99 for a child’s size. Adidas makes the Scotland kit, and on its website the cost of a child’s replica shirt is £55. Adidas said its shirt and kit prices reflect the costs of making them. What’s your own view – are football kits too expensive?
Yes – football should be for everyone
According to the data website Statista, football is the most popular sport in the UK and the price of kits should reflect that. Fans like to wear them to support their teams but some people cannot afford to buy football kits because the cost is just too high. Nick Jones, an England fan, told BBC Sport that prices were “hitting people’s purses and wallets hard”. If people can’t afford to buy official football shirts, they might buy fake ones because they are cheaper. Research from 2024 found people in the UK spend £180 million per year on fake Premier League kits. According to officials who monitor goods sold in the UK, fake shirts could have been made by people working long hours in poor conditions and for little pay.
No – making shirts costs money
In order to make money, companies have to profit from the items they sell. Rob Warner, who used to work for Umbro and Puma and helped design an Italy World Cup kit, told BBC Sport that it costs £10 to make a replica shirt but that there are lots of other costs to add in, such as the cost of the design, research and technology used to develop them. Plus, even though the cost of kits has risen, enough people are still buying them for companies not to lower prices. Anyway, football clubs generally change kits once a year, and international teams less frequently, which means fans don’t have to spend money on that many shirts a year anyway. Official football kits last
a long time so they’re worth the cost.