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The ongoing football World Cup in Qatar has led local sportswear markets into a frenzy but failed to boost television sales as soaring inflation dents people’s purchasing power.
Craze for Jersey
Hundreds of fans rummaging through piles of jerseys to find their favourite ones despite high prices has become a regular sight in the city’s biggest sportswear hub across the national hockey stadium at Gulistan. Reefat, a class-10 student, convinced his uncle to buy a traditional jersey of the Argentine football team. A soccer powerhouse of Latin America, Argentina is led by Lionel Messi and his number 10 jersey is mostly in demand. Reefat’s elder brother, however, supports Brazil and has bought a yellow outfit of another powerhouse of the most popular sport on earth. The demand for jerseys of the English football team and France football team is not less.
Businesses Utilise Opportunity
In fact, the businesses of sportswear wasted no opportunity to cater to the need of football fans. Some businesses are able to import jerseys from China, Thailand and India. Many, however, could not do so because of restrictions on imports by the government to tackle the shortage of dollars. Such a situation has brought a different dynamic in the local jersey market. Locally knitted jerseys are meeting most of the demand. The local knitters have made jerseys of almost all teams taking part in the world cup this year. Such strategies need no explanation since the businesses are cashing in on the football frenzy of the country although the national football team are at the bottom of FIFA ranking. In absence of their own football team on the highest stage, football-crazy fans across the country support foreign teams and foreign players to enjoy their emotional attachment to the beautiful game and its quadrennial event.
Argentina, Brazil top list
According to businesses, their sales have grown with the progress of the World Cup. Even the sales will continue after the event that will end in the third week of the current month, they said. One of the major wholesale hubs of sports items in the city’s Gulistan has worn a festive look as retailers and wholesalers from other districts are crowding the market. The football craze has also gripped the rural area where demand for jerseys of favourite teams has gone up. There are around 350 retail and wholesale shops in the hub. Md Altaf Hossain, managing director of Pacific Sports, said jerseys of Argentine and Brazilian football teams are the most sought-after items, together accounting for almost 90 per cent of the jerseys sold. The customers’ turnout has exceeded expectations. As a result, the sales have been good, he said. He is selling the team’s jersey at Tk 1,200 and the fan’s jersey at Tk 1,000.
WC Frenzy Hits Rural Areas Too
A businessman from Sirajganj said he had to purchase jerseys as demand shot up in his town. The sales of jerseys have begun in full swing in the northern district, he said. According to the trader, jerseys are mainly manufactured in China and Thailand. But local traders bring in most of the shirts from China. There are three types of jerseys for each team: home, away and practice. Of the three, the home jerseys are high in demand compared to the two others.
Local Jersey Manufacture Enjoy Good Sales
M Shamim Hossain Patwary, president of the Bangladesh Sports Goods Merchants Manufacturers and Importers Association, says the demand for locally made jerseys has increased a lot. This is because most traders are not able to open letters of credit to import jerseys due to the ongoing dollar crisis. The government has restricted imports of non-essential and luxury items in order to save the foreign exchange reserves plummeting below $34 billion recently from $48 billion in August 2021. Traders have had to depend on local suppliers this time around. Street vendors are also selling jerseys of football teams. Sabbir Hossain, manager of Solco Sports in Mirpur, which sells jerseys online, says there is a demand for all types of jerseys. Among them, jerseys priced at Tk 350 to Tk 550 are high in demand. In the past several weeks, he has received orders to sell 200 to 250 jerseys every week. According to the Bangladesh Sports Goods Merchants, Manufacturers and Importers Association, the annual turnover of the country’s sports markets is around Tk 1,500 crore, with an average growth rate of 10-15 per cent. Local manufacturers supply around 40 per cent of the goods while the lion’s share comes from foreign sources. Centring the Qatar World Cup, local manufacturers have produced around 40 lakh jerseys and 50 lakh flags of different countries participating in the Cup, the association said.
Flags Sales Up Too
Not only jerseys but also flags are also among the most sought items. Many crazy fans have sewn long flags of their favourite teams with the help of tailors. From the capital to the port city of Chattogram, from Teknaf to Tetulia, from the megacities to the most remote areas, excitement with flags are everywhere. According to an international news agency, Bangladeshi chemist Abu Kowsir who worked in South Korea and earned prosperity for his family stitched South Korean flags into a 3.5-km long banner that weaves a path from their home, along nearby streets and over a river into a neighbouring village. The extravagant tribute cost them $5,000. A man named Sushanta Kumar Dey in Cumilla in his marriage ceremony decorated the wedding gate with white and sky blue coloured cloth imitating the Argentine flag.
TV Sales Not Up to Mark
Bangladesh is better known for its love of cricket, with its football team ranked 192nd globally and never qualifying for the premier international tournament. But every four years, the World Cup arouses feverish passion in the South Asian nation. Die-hard supporters spend fortunes painting their homes in the national colours of their preferred Latin American team. But unlike previous occasions, television sales have not picked up as per the expectations of the businesses. Compared to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, TV sales dropped 20 per cent, Tanveer Mahmood Shuvo, TV product manager of Walton company, told a national business daily. “We didn’t expect so much fall,” he added.
Inflation Matters
It is true the current World Cup could have been better for all types of businesses had not the inflation prevailing nearly at double digits reduced the purchasing power of people. Most of the households in the country have been struggling to meet the daily expenditure with their limited incomes. The increase of fuel oil by around 50 per cent has domino effects in every sphere of life by reducing spending capacity for entertainment.
