Buying out Argentina

As the World Cup heats up, sales of Argentina and Spain merchandise skyrocket

As the top eight teams get ready to battle it out for the FIFA World Cup, sales of team jerseys, caps, bottles and other memorabilia are soaring across India.

And, of the lot, Argentina’s blue and white stripes are on top. “Argentina is the leading team when it comes to online sales,” says Deepa M Thomas of online auction site, eBay India. 50 per cent of Indians shopping for FIFA merchandise on the site prefer Argentina products, with Germany (25 per cent), England (14 per cent) and Brazil (11 per cent) following suit. However, says Thomas, “though the market for FIFA is growing, it is not even close to the IPL market.”

HT launches Crick-it, a one stop destination to catch Cricket, anytime, anywhere. Explore now!

“We’ve seen six times the sales than that in 2006. Argentina’s jerseys are most popular, but Spain is picking up. Personalised jerseys are big too,” says Andreas Gellner, MD, Adidas India.

“Our sales have catapulted. A t-shirt that says ‘Argentina 1986 Hand of God’ has sold the most — 3,000 units in a span of 50 days,” says Vijay Madanu of Amigo Sports, that sells licensed FIFA merchandise. “Of the team jerseys, Spain has sold the most, followed by Brazil and Argentina.” While women may not be buying the team jerseys, there are tees with FIFA graphics that they’re opting for. “It’s a small percentage, but more than we anticipated,” says Gellner.