Kieran Maguire makes ‘big’ Brighton claim with fans left in the dark
Brighton are among a number of clubs missing out on merchandise revenue this season because they have been unable to sell their kits to supporters.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the supply shortage of football shirts this season.
As reported by The Express, 48 clubs in England were hit with supply shortages for football kits ahead of the 2022/23 season, including a handful of Premier League clubs.
The report cites Covid-19 factory shutdowns in Asia, a shortage of container ships and disruption at ports as the reason behind shortages.
The supply issue has improved throughout the season, but many clubs were left waiting until after the season was underway to sell their new season’s kit to supporters.
Brighton have been long-term partners of Nike, after first partnering with the American kit manufacturers in 2014.
Maguire believes the supply issue will have caused clubs to miss out on ‘big amounts’ of revenue at the start of the season.
“The price of kits keeps going up, but you’ve not been able to buy a Brighton kit before Christmas,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“There is a huge amount of Japanese fans that turn up as fans of Kaoru Mitoma, but they are visiting the store and are unable to purchase a kit.
“The club are missing out on big amounts of revenue.
“Brighton fans have been unable to purchase a kit for large parts of the season.”
In other news, Brighton are set to open contract talks with an 18-year-old star as Tottenham prepare a summer swoop