PSG has collaborated on fashion lines with a dozen designers over the yearsGETTY IMAGES
Ligue 1 club Paris St. Germain has an "ambitious plan to turn one of the most successful brands in sports into an international fashion brand as well," according to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. TIMES. PSG has "all the soccer fans it needs," but there are still more people who "don't follow the game, whom the team is targeting for new business." PSG Dir of Merchandising & Brand Diversification Fabien Allegre said, "We're working to talk to people who don't care about soccer. Just to make the brand grow and grow." The club in the past has "collaborated on fashion lines with a dozen apparel designers," including Jordan Brand. There also is an "online site that offers more than 3,000 items, including club-branded skateboards and exclusive merchandise produced for the Rolling Stones' tour stop in Paris last year." PSG currently has partnerships with a hatmaker, a shoemaker and Swiss watchmaker Hublot. Baxter notes for PSG and other European clubs at its level, generating new streams of revenue is a "matter of survival because of the costs associated with international soccer." LaLiga's Real Madrid recently signed a 10-year, $1.2B jersey sponsorship deal with Adidas; by comparison, PSG's current deal with Nike, which runs through '27, is "worth about half that." Ligue 1 also currently has the "worst broadcast deal of Europe's five major leagues." Despite this, PSG has "shelled out the largest transfer fees in history over the last two seasons" (L.A. TIMES, 5/1).
