Paris Saint-Germain continues its impressive growth in the global market, evidenced by the recent news that shirt sales are set to hit the one million mark for the season, thanks in no small part to the club’s collaboration with basketball brand Jordan.
While PSG continue to seek success on the biggest stage in European club football, its business model off the pitch can’t be faulted, with experimental collaborations and brave marketing decisions creating an international franchise that can compete with the biggest in the world. And one of the best examples of PSG’s trailblazing approach came in the previously unprecedented cross-sport collab with basketball brand, Jordan.
Primarily providing the team with its Champions League third kit, the PSG x Jordan collection has since expanded to a full lifestyle collection that sits nicely alongside the performance clothing, bringing global attention to the club. PSG shirt sales in the USA alone have increased by 470% since the Jordan release, with rappers Travis Scott, J. Cole, 6ix9ine along with basketball stars Ben Simmons, Draymond Green, Nicolas Batum and Tony Parker all seen sporting the PSG Jumpman shirt.
In the weekend following the release of the PSG x Jordan collection 40,000 shirts were sold, foreshadowing the enormous appeal of the brands combining. To put the incredible growth into perspective, when the club was taken over in the 2011/12 season by Qatar Sports Investments, 250,000 shirts were sold. Last season, PSG’s shirt sales had already increased dramatically to around 800,000 thanks to the signing of Neymar and the emergence and rapid development of Mbappe, but that number is set to be eclipsed this season following the Jordan crossover, bringing in huge revenue to the club.
As well as the increased revenue, the sales are also set to see PSG enter the top five clubs that sell the most shirts globally, behind only Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester United. Offering cross-sport appeal on a global scale, PSG have muscled their way on to the top table and they're not set to be leaving anytime soon.
