The Competition and Markets Authority have handed Rangers Football Club, JD Sports and Elite Sports more than £2m in fines for fixing the prices of certain Rangers club merchandise.
The CMA state that that Elite Sports and JD Sports broke competition law when they fixed the retail prices of a number of Rangers-branded replica kits and other clothing products from September 2018 until at least July 2019. It also said that Rangers Football Club took part in the alleged collusion, but only to the extent of fixing the retail price of adult home short-sleeved replica shirts from September 2018 to at least mid-November 2018.
The UK Government 's competition watchdog noted all 3 firms colluded to stop JD Sports undercutting the retail price of the shirt on Elite’s Gers Online store. The autority has fined Elite Sports £459,000, JD Sports £1.485m and Rangers £225,000, while the penalties include a settlement discount which reflect resource savings to the CMA as a result of all three parties admitting to acting illegally and helping bring a swifter resolution to the CMA’s investigation.
Michael Grenfell, executive director of enforcement at the CMA, said: “At a time when many people are worried about the rising cost of living, it is important that football fans are able to benefit from competitively priced merchandise.
“Instead, Elite, JD Sports and, to some extent, Rangers, worked together to keep prices high. Today’s decision sends a clear message to football clubs and other businesses that illegal anti-competitive collusion will not be tolerated.”
Elite was the manufacturer of Rangers-branded clothing and also sold Rangers-branded products directly through its Gers Online store and later in bricks-and-mortar shops in Glasgow and Belfast. The only UK-wide major retailer selling those products at the time was JD Sports.
The investigation found that Rangers FC became concerned about the fact that, at the start of the 2018 to 2019 football season, JD Sports was selling the Rangers replica top at a lower price than Elite, which was seen at the time as the club’s ‘retail partner’. This resulted in an understanding between the 3 parties that JD Sports would increase its retail price of the Rangers adult short-sleeved home replica shirt by nearly 10 per cent, from £55 to £60, to bring it in line with the prices being charged by Elite on Gers Online.
The CMA also found that Elite and JD Sports – without involvement from the Scottish Premiership side – colluded to fix the retail prices of Rangers-branded clothing, including training wear and replica kit, over a longer period. This included aligning the level and timing of discounts towards the end of the football season in 2019, to avoid competition between them and protect their profit margins.
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