Kit clash: the environmental challenges of sports merchandise production

After the English second-tier Championship and the Dutch Eredivisie begin tomorrow, the top tiers in Italy, Spain, France and England follow next weekend, before the German Bundesliga gets underway in two weeks’ time. Across these seven leagues – the most popular in terms of attendance in Europe – more than 73 million spectators filed through the turnstiles last season. Many millions more watched the action from afar.

Almost all of the clubs in these leagues have released new home, away and third kits for the campaign for their passionate fans to snap up; and supporters have had to dig deeper than ever.

The average price for a standard adult jersey from an English Premier League club has reached £72.60 this season, representing the first time it has surpassed the £70 threshold and an inflation-busting rise of 53% versus the average price of £47.40 just a decade ago.

In Spain, Real Madrid’s home shirt is priced at £95, with an ‘authentic shirt’ costing £140. Rival Barcelona is charging £85 and nearly £125 for its comparable jerseys.

However, these eye-watering prices are not only confined to the upper echelons. Even outside the top flight in England, 11 clubs are charging more than £60 for an adult jersey. Being a supporter has never been so expensive.

A costly passion

For many fans, the joy of supporting their favourite team is increasingly tempered by the rising cost of staying up to date with the latest kits. This trend is particularly problematic in a sport where the visual representation of allegiance through jerseys is deeply ingrained in fan culture.

The frequent introduction of new kits not only places a financial burden on fans but also poses significant environmental challenges, given the production, distribution, and eventual disposal of these items. For many clubs, these kits provide a vital source of revenue. However, some have opted to adopt a different approach.

Brentford FC, for instance, decided not to release a new home kit for the 2022-23 season, instead rolling over their 2021-22 kit, citing affordability concerns for fans during a cost-of-living crisis. This year, they have again rolled-over their 2023-24 home kit into the new season.

“We try to be environmentally conscious across the club, and products from our retail department are no exception,” James Beale, Sustainability Manager at Brentford FC, tells Global Sustainable Sport. “The manufacture and delivery of new kits create a significant environmental impact, increasing the risk of previous kits ending up in landfills. A kit rollover reduces this impact and makes keeping up to date with what the team is wearing more affordable for fans.”

This decision is part of a broader strategy to balance environmental responsibility with economic viability. “Sport already has a moral responsibility to mitigate its impact on climate change, but equally, this investment can reduce costs now and future-proof the business against the financial impact of global environmental change,” Beale explains. “We’ve built our success on efficiency and making small, smart decisions, and both are essential to a progressive sustainability strategy.”

Fans’ reception

The Football Task Force, established in 1997, recommended that Premier League clubs limit the introduction of new home jerseys to once every two seasons. This proposal was incorporated into the Premier League charter in 2000. However, without any legal enforcement, it has been largely ignored by all top-division clubs. A significant reason is the influence of sponsors, as football shirts serve as powerful branding vehicles. While clubs argue that lucrative sponsorship deals provide essential revenue, they often overlook the financial burden that frequent changes in sponsors place on their loyal fans. Brentford’s initiative, therefore, stands out as a beacon of sustainability in an industry often driven by short-term profits – and it has not gone unnoticed by fans.

“It’s been really popular with our fans and often gets brought up when fans tell us what we’re doing well,” says Beale. “Our survey results told us that more action to reduce waste at the club is a priority for fans. The kit rollover has been a key part of our strategy to achieve this.”

Most football jerseys are made of polyester that has over double the carbon footprint (5.5 kilograms of CO2 per shirt) of a shirt made of cotton (2.1 kilograms of CO2). Even recycled polyester can take years to decompose. Therefore, reducing the frequency of new kit releases has the most significant positive impact.

Such a strategy remains highly unusual at the top levels of the game, but it is more commonplace in the lower leagues, moving away from the traditional linear economy of production and consumption to a closed-loop circular system of reusing materials by extending the lifecycle of a product.

However, a significant obstacle in the widespread adoption of circular practices is the reluctance of brands to embrace reuse due to fears of cannibalising new sales. Some brands impose restrictions on the reuse of sports kits within certain markets to protect their revenue streams. For Brentford, though, the club’s decision did not result in a significant decline in overall sales.

“The expectation was that we would see a reduction in shirt sales,” Beale says. “However, we felt economic and environmental benefits outweighed the financial gain we would have received by not doing it. We know our fans appreciate the initiative as it saves them money, and it aligns to our goals on sustainability by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and materials associated with shirt manufacture. Even with the rollover, we have still managed to deliver financial growth year-on-year, thanks to our growing fanbase worldwide and introducing innovative products to our retail range.”

Miseducation

Other sports organisations, though, remain reluctant to take such a leap. As someone with expertise in supply chains and integrating circularity within sport, 5THREAD chief executive Joanna Czutkowna, understands the complexities involved. “Often, the focus is on why materials can’t be changed, but only about 1% of used clothing is recycled into new clothing,” Czutkowna says. “Despite many business strategies emphasising recycling, there is confusion about terminology. When organisations say they will ‘recycle’ as part of their sports strategy, they often mean ‘reuse’. This miseducation highlights the need for clarity and proper understanding when discussing extending the product lifecycle in sports.

“I think clubs need to be careful that they don’t put themselves in a situation where, especially for kids, parents look for other alternatives. Will parents pay £70 per shirt, or will they get a counterfeit one? This is where clubs must try and tread that line carefully because otherwise, with the cost-of-living crisis, a parent of a child who wants a football shirt might think there’s another option. We do see platforms like Classic Football Shirts, which is a model where they resell vintage shirts, and Vinted for second-hand shirts as an interesting circular economy business model. The platforms help extend the product life and tends to be much cheaper. If you wear a garment for twice as long, it reduces carbon emissions by 44%.”

The reuse economy

A framework to understand the benefits of a reuse economy in sports is the ‘Golden Triangle’ of social, economic, and environmental advantages. Removing cost barriers through reuse not only opens sports to a broader demographic, but also brings significant social benefits. For instance, participation has been linked to leadership development among women, underscoring the social value of accessible sports programmes.

More broadly, significant challenges remain regarding waste gear and equipment. Currently, there is no universally defined method for reusing and recycling cricket gear, for example. Diverting sports kits and equipment from landfills to those in need can reduce waste and provide essential resources to disadvantaged communities. Environmentally, this practice helps decrease the carbon footprint associated with producing new sports gear and managing waste. The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation’s success in redistributing cricket equipment is a testament to the efficacy of this approach.

However, organisations do face logistical issues with collecting, storing, and redistributing used equipment. There is also resistance from stakeholders who are accustomed to traditional business models. Infrastructure and a culture of repair are key to the change in approach. In countries like India, where cricket kit and clothing, for example, is often repaired at an affordable price, such an approach almost impossible in the UK given the relatively high cost of labour.

For sporting entities, a stepping stone towards sustainability is to ask: ‘What is happening to this product?’

Sports retailer Decathlon’s innovative rent and resale models show that integrating circular economy principles can be both feasible and profitable with investment in the right areas.

Waste challenges

The industry faces significant challenges, such as inadequate recycling infrastructure and prevalent greenwashing. Many new brands claim to be fully circular and sustainable, but without substantial evidence to support these claims, scepticism remains. Endorsements from sports stars lack impact without transparent data and tangible results. To overcome these barriers, not just brands and organisations, but the sports industry as a whole must enhance recycling capabilities and ensure accountability.

“Conduct a review into all areas of the business to identify where you can be more efficient and reduce waste,” says Beale when asked what clubs can do to implement sustainable practices. “Look into how you can reuse physical materials and review quantities of items required before purchasing them. But it’s also important to work with staff and fans to make them aware that sustainability is on the club’s agenda. You’ll make greater progress when working collaboratively.”

To truly champion sustainability, the sports industry must transform intent into action, ensuring every claim is backed by evidence and every product serves a purpose beyond its first use. Only then can the full potential of a circular economy be fulfilled, creating a lasting impact for both the environment and society.

Images: Braden Hopkins on Unsplash, Medelwaid on Unsplash, Omar Ramadan, Marcus Silva

Words: Kritika Naidu