Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain is on track to sell more than one million shirts in a single season, for the first time in the club’s history.
PSG’s strong performance in shirt sales this season is understood to be driven by the launch of its Jordan X PSG range in September last year.
The special edition strip, worn only for Champion League fixtures, featured the Jordan ‘Jump Man’ logo – a sub-brand of PSG kit supplier Nike.
In its first weekend after the launch, PSG sold over 80,000 Jordan X PSG shirts, and in the first month, it sold over 150,000 shirts.
The first month of sales alone, according to a report from Le Parisien, injected an extra €15m in revenue into the club.
Speaking to SportBusiness Sponsorship, Fabien Allègre, director of brand diversification at Paris Saint-Germain, said: “Sales of Paris Saint-Germain official products have increased 400 per cent since 2011, driven by Paris Saint-Germain’s increasingly strong international reputation.
“In addition to the partnership with Jordan, which brings Paris Saint-Germain to many retail stores, particularly in North America and Asia, the club is also the first European team to open an official club shop in Tokyo.”
If current sales trends continue, PSG is also on track to become one of the top-five biggest shirt sellers in global club football, alongside Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man United and Bayern Munich.
Previously, only these four elite clubs have managed to break the one million mark in a single season.
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PSG’s strong sales growth is also driven by the club’s increased appeal overseas, particularly in the US and Asia. This season, mainly due to the Jordan X PSG tie-up, shirt sales in the US have grown by 470 per cent compared to last season.
In the US, the PSG brand has also been strengthened by a growing list of celebrity endorsers.
Stars who have been seen wearing either PSG matchday or PSG lifestyle wear now include singer Justin Timberlake, NBA players Stephen Curry, Ben Simmons, Draymond Green and Nicolas Batum, rappers Travis Scott, J. Cole and 6x9ine, and models Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid.
PSG has also pioneered the fusion of catwalk fashion and football club branding. Last year, PSG took part in Paris Fashion Week, showcasing the X PSG SS19 range by Indian designer Manish Arora.
In the 2017-18 season, PSG reportedly sold over 800,000 shirts, generating around €55m in revenue. This year, its shirt sales are projected to increase by 25 per cent.
The club has come a long way since Qatar Sports Investments took over in 2011-12, when PSG sold just over 250,000 shirts in the group’s first season.