Lacking Sponsorship Money, RC Lens Launches Website For Fans To Help

Currently without a sponsor, Ligue 2 club RC Lens wore an "unprecedented jersey" during Friday's match against AS Monaco, according to L'EQUIPE. The club had the name of a website (monrclens.fr) on its chest. The website was launched after the game "and will allow fans to financially contribute to the club." In exchange, the fans will be able to participate in different events at the training ground and the stadium. The objective is to "collect €250,000 ($322,900) for the back of the jersey and €500,000 ($645,800) for the chest." Once those sums are reached, the team will offer fans the opportunity to choose a phrase to put on the jersey that represents "the values and the history of the club" (L'EQUIPE, 9/21). SPORTUNE.fr wrote that RC Lens leaders "chose a bad day" to launch an operation that absolutely has to be linked with the supporters. The team lost by a score of 4-0 at home against AS Monaco (SPORTUNE.fr, 9/23).