$5,000 for Argentina football kit? Demand for World Cup champions' attire sends prices soaring

SINGAPORE – Newly crowned World Cup champions Argentina have not only scored big at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, but also in retail stores here as well.

La Albiceleste's blue-and-white home jersey, worn by the players when they beat France 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw in the final on Sunday (Dec 18) night, is sold out in a number of online and physical stores here.

Some resellers are offering the jerseys at inflated prices ranging from the mid-hundreds to close to $5,000 at online marketplaces such as Carousell.

For example, a listing on Carousell, posted around 2am on Monday, offers a set comprising an Argentina home jersey, underwear, a pair of socks and pants for $4,989. Another listing, posted around 3pm on Monday, has a $1,000 price tag for a home jersey.

Checks by The Straits Times showed the Argentina replica home World Cup jersey sells for at least $95 while the authentic version worn by the players costs at least $190.

Adidas Singapore's country manager Ruiyuan Chen said both jerseys, as well as the kids' home jersey, have sold out in its web and physical stores.

As of Monday afternoon, there was still limited stock for its purple away jerseys at the Adidas Brand Centre Orchard store, online and selected sporting good retailers. 

"With the Argentina team's strong performances week-on-week and it being the final Fifa World Cup match in Lionel Messi's footballing career, we've seen sustained high demand for Argentina jerseys throughout the tournament," Chen added.

[[nid:610679]]

Sporting goods stores that ST spoke to at Peninsula Shopping Centre – a favourite haunt for sports memorabilia – on Monday said the home jerseys have been sold out since last week and they expect demand to increase in the next few months.

Kuljeev Johal, general manager at Crown Sports, said about 30 fans had inquired about the availability of the jerseys on Sunday.

"It's normal after every World Cup to see demand for the jerseys of the two teams in the final. Jerseys for the team that win will be in demand for a good six months to a year," he said.

Over at Champion Sports, its director Anil Kumar said at least five people had inquired about the home jerseys on Monday morning. While the store still has six to seven pieces of the away jersey, he expects them to sell out soon.

To meet the growing demand, the stores are restocking the jerseys, which are expected to arrive in early January.

Rajbir Chopra, sales director at Weston Corp, which has seven stores islandwide, said its new stocks will arrive in March.

Chopra said "consumers want a piece of history" as this was Messi's last World Cup, adding that the new jerseys will have an additional star printed on them – to signify their third World Cup triumph on Sunday.

While France were the losing finalists in Doha, sales of their jersey have been strong.

A Nike spokesman said the item is currently sold out online and in stores.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.