Merchandising is a major source of revenue for all sporting bodies and a number of Irish based players in the market will be at the Sports Merchandise and Marketing Exhibition show at Wembley Stadium on Monday.
Eimear Doherty, responsible for licensing and merchandise at the GAA, featured in the video review below of the exhibition from 2013.
Merchandise revenues in North America alone are projected to rise from to $13.8 Billion by 2017 in the latest PwC outlook on sport.
The market is relatively mature and dependent in large part on match attendance and revised shirt designs. Dublin GAA switched to AIG on their shirt last December giving rise to a boost in sales while similar may be likely from the new Canterbury Irish rugby shirt which will be released in October.
It is not only at the big level that merchandise can make a difference. Club Colours, one of the winners in the sports category of the Arthur Guinness Projects in 2013 provides merchandise in small orders to individual clubs and has seen increased interest in its model as clubs search for new ways to bring in funds.
The crossover between sport and pop culture also gives rise to new developments.
Chelsea Football Club has this week agreed a new partnership with Twentieth Century Fox that will see the Barclays Premier League club collaborate with The Simpsons TV series.
Five players, pictured above have been turned into characters from the show and a range of goods along similar lines, featuring the shows iconic characters will doubtless be making their way into many homes in Europe and the US over the next year.
We will catch up next week with any new developments to emerge from the show.
