Football Shirt Culture.com

SPORT+MARKT published The European Football Merchandising Report, which shows that the six biggest European top clubs generate a total of 615 million euros (519 million GBP) annually selling replica shirts and other items.

Sport + Markt looked into the merchandising income of the 116 top flight clubs in six areas, (The Premier League, Primera Liga, German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1, Serie A and the Dutch Eredivisie) not at that generated in other markets in Europe or Asia.

The Premier League (171 million euro's) ranks ahead of Spain's Primera Liga (145 million euros), the German Bundesliga (127), France's Ligue 1 (86), Italy's Serie A (64) and the Dutch Eredivisie (22).

Sport + Markt observed that the clubs sold 93.3 per cent of their merchandising products on the domestic market and only 6.7 per cent in the other five areas.

English fans spend an average 65.40 euros per year for merchandising, followed by the Dutch (46.50), Spanish (44.90), French (42.60), Germans (35.40) and Italians (23.30).

The report's authors said.

"For many, football is a passion -- even more so in economically tough times. We do not expect people to cut back heavily on their passion. They will tighten their belts in other areas,"

Hartmut Zastrow, executive director of SPORT+MARKT, told Reuters.

"Also the fact that merchandise is a popular gift in most European key markets, will deliver strong income in the future.

"If sponsors have to withdraw from their engagements to save money, the position of merchandising income will become even more significant for clubs."

"Italian fans wear less merchandise. In the Netherlands and Germany, lower-priced scarves are highly popular, as well as jerseys," said the report's co-author Peter

Rohlmann, executive director of PR Marketing.

"Clubs and kit suppliers in England operate a jersey pricing policy which deviates strongly from other leagues."