In this seventh part of our series, we dive into the economics of football kits over the 32 years since the Premier League began, examining the steady rise in prices, the shift towards annual kit releases, and the increasing marketing pressure on fans and parents. Buying a cheap football kit online is very different today than it was 30 years ago!
We conducted a significant historical study of the prices of football kits released by three clubs, gathering over 230 data points and adjusting them for inflation.
With kits being released at an unprecedented rate, families might question whether keeping up with the latest designs is still feasible—or necessary—in a cost-of-living crisis.
The Rise in Kit Prices: 1992 to 2024
When the Premier League kicked off in 1992, an adult shirt cost around £29.99, and children’s shirts were approximately £23.99. Fast forward to 2024, and these prices have soared to an average of £81.67 for adults and £59 for children. For many parents who grew up in the 1990s, this leap feels astronomical. Indeed, 82% of parents in our survey described kits as expensive, with 57% rating them “very expensive.”
When adjusted for inflation, these 1992 prices equate to £64.18 for adults and £52.05 for children today, revealing a real price increase of 27.25% for adult shirts and 13.41% for children’s shirts over the past three decades.
The Shift to Annual Kit Releases
Our research also explored the historical trend of annual kit releases for all three ‘Home’, ‘Away’, and ‘third’ shirts, a shift that began in the late 1990s and solidified in the 2010s. We tracked how clubs like Tottenham, Manchester United, and Liverpool moved from periodic kit updates (1.42 per year – 1995) to consistently releasing three new kits per season (2013 >).
- Tottenham: Released three kits every season for 22 of the last 23 years, with 23 new home kits in the last 25 years.
- Manchester United: Entering its 11th consecutive year of releasing three kits, with 18 new home shirts in the past 19 years.
- Liverpool: Released three kits each season for the past 13 years, with 15 new home shirts in the last 17 years.
This pace creates considerable pressure on parents, with 61% of respondents in our survey feeling clubs release kits too often. This pressure is especially pronounced among parents of young fans, with 65% saying they feel compelled for their child to have the latest kit and 32% often feeling the strain of trying to keep up.
Annualised Home Kit Price (AHKP)
To understand the financial impact, we created a metric called Annualised Home Kit Price (AHKP)—the annualised cost of owning the latest home shirt.
With fans historically not always having to buy a new home shirt every year, we averaged the costs over a rolling 5-year period to understand exactly how much it always costs to wear the latest home shirt.
Adjusted for inflation, this cost has risen from £42.38 in 1995 to £81.67 in 2024—a 92% increase. For parents buying a new home shirt for their child, the cost has grown from £31.49 to £59, an 87% increase.
Marketing Trends and the “Replica” Debate
Over the past decade, clubs have embraced increasingly aggressive marketing techniques, promoting multiple shirt versions, including “authentic” kits worn by players and “stadium” replicas for fans. Although replicas have always been tailored for casual wear, the clear distinction between “authentic” and “replica” may lead fans to perceive the replica as inferior to previous generations. This could potentially drive interest in counterfeit options, especially when official replicas still command record-high prices.
Richard Arnold, former CEO of Manchester United, commented on the frequency of new kits, stating, “Our experience, and the experience of Adidas, is that fans actively seek newness in this area, and this is something we plan to continue with.”
However, this strategy has been met with scepticism. Many fans feel that the rapid turnover of designs diminishes the value of each shirt, and 61% of surveyed parents believe clubs release new kits too quickly.
The Cost-of-Living Crisis: Are Official Kits Losing Their Place as Essentials?
Our research showed that football kit prices increased but didn’t outpace the median UK household income over 32 years. However, with the recent rising costs of living, household budgets have been stretched thin.
There was a 7.5% drop in food and non-alcoholic drink spending in real terms over the past year. Energy bills, averaging £769 in 2021, soared to £1,996 by January 2023, and are expected to remain at £1,717 from October 2024. In this context, football kits, once an essential purchase for many football mad families, may now be viewed as non-essential luxuries.
In our survey, 72% of parents expressed a neutral or negative view on whether the high prices of football kits matched the quality provided. The increased frequency of releases, coupled with rising costs, seems to be driving families toward alternative options, including counterfeits, as they try to balance their child’s team loyalty with financial realities.
For many families, the choice isn’t just about supporting their club—it’s about weighing the value of the investment, given that official kits are no longer as affordable or as essential as they once seemed.
Methodology: How We Tracked 32 Years of Kit Price Trends
To understand the real impact of rising football kit prices, our team conducted a detailed analysis of kit pricing trends over the entire history of the Premier League. This involved tracking historical list prices and adjusting them for inflation to understand how costs have changed for fans and families.
Clubs Selected for Analysis
We focused on three Premier League clubs: Manchester United, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur. These clubs were selected for their consistent popularity and, in Tottenham’s case, their tendency to push boundaries with kit release trends.
Data Collection
To gather accurate pricing data, we used several sources:
- Match Programmes and Club Merchandise: We reviewed old match programmes and retro merchandise listings from both official club outlets and major retailers.
- Fan Magazines and Club Archives: Publications from the 1990s, including fan magazines, provided valuable price data, and we accessed snapshots of club stores from the early web.
- British Library’s Newspaper Archive: This resource enabled us to access print advertisements and club announcements spanning over three decades.
In total, we compiled over 230 data points on kit prices, covering each season from the Premier League’s inception in 1992 to the present.
Inflation Adjustment
To assess real price changes over time, we used the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to adjust all historical prices to 2024 values. This allowed us to determine the actual impact of price increases on fans beyond the effects of inflation.
Release Frequency Analysis
To explore how frequently clubs release new kits, we reviewed archives and data to track the frequency of new shirts (home, away, and third kits) for each club.
Using this data, we calculated a rolling five-year average of the number of new kits released each season, both for home kits alone and all kit types. This helped us identify trends and patterns in release frequency and price inflation. It also allowed us to account for clubs changing shirt manufacturers, temporarily creating a jump in releases in early data.
The Annualised Home Kit Price (AHKP)
To quantify the financial impact on fans, we developed the Annualised Home Kit Price (AHKP) metric. This metric represents the average annual cost for a fan to own the latest home shirt, accounting for inflation, changing prices and release schedules over time. For parents, the AHKP provided insights into the actual cost of keeping their child in the latest home kit season after season.
Limitations
While this methodology allowed for a comprehensive view of kit pricing trends, there are some limitations:
- Limited Club Selection: With only three clubs analysed, there may be slight variations across other Premier League teams. Smaller clubs in the Premier League have also made an effort to keep kit prices reasonable, with the likes of Brentford only charging £60 for an adult shirt and £45 for a child shirt this season (2024/25).
- Inconsistent Historical Records: As we could not always find exact data, some price data was reconstructed from estimates based on the median price of the previous and next shirt releases.
Despite these limitations, our methodology provides a robust picture of the changing landscape of football kit prices and their impact on fans and families over the last 32 years.
What’s Next?
In the final part of our ‘Tale Of Two Shirts’ series, we’re assembling all our research to identify the seven key reasons behind the explosion of fake football shirts.
Viewing Part 7 of 8 in our 'A Tale Of Two Shirts' Series
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Sources
Ambrose, Jillian. “Average annual energy bill to rise by 10% to £1717 in Great Britain from October.” The Guardian, 23 August 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/aug/23/average-annual-energy-bill-rise-great-britain-october-ofgem.
“Domestic energy prices – House of Commons Library.” Commons Library, 8 July 2024, https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9491/.
“Family spending in the UK.” Family spending in the UK – Office for National Statistics, 23 August 2024, https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/expenditure/bulletins/familyspendingintheuk/april2022tomarch2023.
Morgan, Sam. “Shirt hits fans Manchester United will release three new kits this summer because fans demand ‘newness.’” The Sun, 18 January 2017, https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/2647722/manchester-united-will-release-three-new-kits-this-summer-because-fans-demand-newness/.
“Premier League Kit History.” Football Kit Archive, https://www.footballkitarchive.com/premier-league-kits/.