Jersey sales are no longer a side note in football’s balance sheets, they are a headline act. They tell stories of global fandom, of how far a club’s reach extends beyond its region, and how deep its colours run across continents.
A single design release can set off a wave of purchases from London to Lagos, from Tokyo to Toronto. In this era, a club’s shirt has become more than fabric; it is culture, identity, and commerce stitched together.
There was a time when the financial might of a football club was measured by gate receipts, broadcast deals, and a few big sponsorships. That world still matters. But over the past fifteen years, a quieter revolution has crept in, one that revolves around what fans wear; the colours, the crests, the names, the stories printed on cotton, polyester, and mesh.
Jersey sales and club merchandise have become one of the clearest signals of a club’s popularity and global pull. In many ways, the kit is a badge of identity and belonging. It is the bridge between stadium and sofa, between local fan and distant admirer. It is where fandom becomes consumerism.
Football giants such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Manchester City have parlayed their on-field success into record-breaking kit deals.
These deals offer guaranteed annual revenue and a share of the proceeds from replica jerseys, scarves, training wear, and all manner of branded gear.
On top of that, clubs increasingly run direct-to-fan stores, e-commerce platforms, limited editions, collaborations with fashion brands, and region-specific variants. The modern merchandising engine is complex and global.
From the official financial accounts and UEFA’s benchmarking report, we can piece together how much each club earns from this stream: the fixed payments from kit suppliers and their royalty shares from merchandise.
While no club reliably publishes the number of shirts sold, the revenue figures offer a clearer, more grounded sense of scale.
Below is a list of top clubs by merchandising revenue in 2025, based on leaks, reporting sites, and the UEFA/SalaryLeaks compilation. It is not perfect, but it gives a working map.
Football Clubs with Most Jersey Sales in 2025
| Rank | Club | Total Merchandising / Kit & Merch Revenue | Kit Contract (Base) | Royalties / Merchandise Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | €196 million | €120 million (Adidas) | €76 million |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | €171 million | €110 million (Adidas) | €61 million |
| 3 | Barcelona | €171 million | €105 million (Nike) | €66 million |
| 4 | Liverpool | €146 million | €70 million (Adidas) | €76 million |
| 5 | Manchester United | €146 million | €105 million (Adidas) | €41 million |
| 6 | Arsenal | €120 million | €85 million (Adidas) | €35 million |
| 7 | Tottenham | €96 million | €35 million (Nike) | €61 million |
| 8 | Chelsea | €95 million | €70 million (Nike) | €25 million |
| 9 | Galatasaray | €85 million | €25 million (Nike) | €60 million |
| 10 | PSG | €81 million | €70 million (Nike) | €11 million |
| 11 | Manchester City | €76 million | €75 million (Puma) | €1 million |
| 12 | Juventus | €74 million | €51 million (Adidas) | €23 million |
| 13 | Borussia Dortmund | €72 million | €30 million (Puma) | €42 million |
| 14 | Fenerbahçe | €69 million | €15 million (Adidas) | €54 million |
| 15 | AC Milan | €59 million | €30 million (Puma) | €29 million |
| 16 | Inter Milan | €51 million | €30 million (Nike) | €21 million |
| 17 | Celtic | €35 million | €10 million (Adidas) | €25 million |
| 18 | Beşiktaş | €34 million | €10 million (Adidas) | €24 million |
| 19 | Ajax | €33 million | €30 million (Adidas) | €3 million |
| 20 | Roma | €27 million | €5 million (Adidas) | €22 million |
With two streams of income. The “Kit Contract (Base)” column shows what the club is guaranteed by the equipment supplier, regardless of sales.
The “Royalties / Merchandise Share” is what they collect proportionally (or via bonuses) from actual retail or wholesale sales of club-branded gear.
This data gives us clues about which clubs are expanding their global footprint, which are relying heavily on fan loyalty, and which are still vulnerable to fluctuations in popularity or supply chain disruptions.
The Real Kings of Merchandising
At the top stands Real Madrid, pulling in €196 million from kit and merchandise alone. That number alone matches what many news outlets and analytical write-ups cite as their merchandising total.
Madrid’s base contract with Adidas is lucrative. But the real engine is the royalty flow. With global reach, hundreds of official club stores, tourism traffic at the Bernabéu, and an endless demand for limited editions, special kits, and star-player versions, the royalty stream is powerful. Their consistent success, iconic brand, and the glories of the “Galáctico” era all play into it.
Madrid’s dominance is not accidental.
For decades, they have marketed beyond Spain. Their appeal in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and increasingly in Africa ensures that a new generation picking a club to support often picks white shirts.
Bayern Munich & Barcelona
Bayern Munich matches Barcelona with €171 million. Bayern’s brand strength in Germany and across global markets is huge. Adidas has long had a close relationship with Bayern, anchoring it as one of its signature clubs. And the Bavarian side has been consistent in performance and appeal.
Barcelona, meanwhile offers a compelling counterpoint. Despite financial turbulence, Catalonia’s club holds fast as a global force. Their Erasmus in brand, the pairing with Nike, and the global following of their style of play keep demand for Barça shirts high. The royalties piece is formidable €66 million in that line.
One intriguing detail: Barcelona is one of the relatively few top clubs whose kit contract is with Nike rather than Adidas. In the current landscape, Adidas is the default partner for many top clubs.
Liverpool
Liverpool’s with €146 million tells a story of both success and flux. Their kit deal with Nike guarantees €70 million base, but the club is known to collect 20 per cent in royalties. In recent seasons, reports suggest Liverpool earned £122.8 million in total from their Nike partnership—including the royalty portion.
As of 2025, Liverpool shift to Adidas. Reports suggest the new deal top £60 million base plus royalty upside. The timing and terms of that shift will matter for their merchandising ranking.
Manchester United
United’s €146 million sits in the same bracket as Liverpool, but their revenue structure is different. A sizable base (around €105 million) is secured through an Adidas contract. Their royalty stream, however, is slimmer relative to some peers: €41 million. This suggests that while their fan loyalty remains massive, their merch penetration or product innovation may lag.
United continues to depend on its historic global brand to sell shirts. But it must stay creative if it wants to maintain commercial dominance. In a fast-changing market, relying on name alone is no guarantee.
What Makes Merchandising Tick
These are not just snapshots of who is strong now. They are signs of structural shifts in football commerce.
Fixed vs Variable Revenue
In the earliest days, kit deals were straightforward: supplier provides gear, club gets a flat payment. Over time, as markets matured, suppliers insisted on more variable components; royalties, volume thresholds, bonuses tied to real sales. That pushed the commercial departments of clubs to treat their kit as a product brand, not just a sponsorship.
This hybrid model brings risk and upside. A club with weak merchandise performance might suffer royalties backsliding; one with strong global traction can tap into far higher upside from the same base. That’s why top clubs try to push every hire, campaign, and collaboration toward growing their merchandise appeal.
When we see a club like Manchester City with a €75 million base but only €1 million in reported royalties (in 2025), we see a case where the upside has not materialised yet or where transparency is limited. Clubs in emerging merchandise markets or ones with shorter brand reach struggle to unlock the royalty premium.
Local Roots, Global Reach
Some clubs in the table represent less-expected names. Galatasaray (rank 9) is a prime example. Their blend of regional dominance, passionate fanbase, and diaspora presence gives them outsized leverage in Turkey, Europe, and among Turkish communities worldwide. Reports point out that in 2024, Galatasaray pulled in €85 million in merchandising revenue.
Likewise, clubs like Fenerbahçe (rank 14) and Beşiktaş (rank 18) show that national footholds, well-organised fan engagement, and international distribution channels can scale significantly.
These instances indicate that while Western Europe may dominate, the model works globally. Where access, licensing, and supply chains align, strong clubs in Asia, South America, and Africa could begin rising on those lists. The global merchandise market is projected to grow sharply: estimates put total football merchandise at USD $15.4 billion in 2025 with CAGR of around 6–7% in the coming years.
The Arms Race of Kit Suppliers
Suppliers are fighting for access to top clubs, not just because of visibility but because of upside.
Petrobras, Puma, Adidas, Nike, and a few niche players now bid aggressively. Adidas currently leads in the top 20: most clubs in that list are outfitted by Adidas, a dominance that reflects brand alignment, distribution capacity, and willingness to absorb initial risk.
This competition raises base payments. But the ultimate returns come from driving merchandise sales. When suppliers take risks on base payments, they expect to recoup them via volume, exclusivity, marketing support, and share of upside.
Merchandise as Identity, Not Just Revenue
Merchandise is not just about jersey sales, it is identity work. Limited editions, capsule collections, fashion crossovers, retro kits, regional versions, and sustainability lines all can fuel demand. The club that thinks carefully about fans as consumers, not just supporters can unlock new revenue streams.
For instance, releasing a special kit for a city tour, collaborating with streetwear labels, or designing alternative kits for certain markets allows extra margins.
The clubs that see themselves as “lifestyle brands” rather than just sports entities can push their merchandising revenue further upward.
Observations, Surprises & Risks
The concentration is stark. The top 5–6 clubs dominate. Below 10, club merch earnings drop off fast. The gap is not just between 1 and 2, but between the leading cluster and the rest. In the merchandising business, scale, consistency, and innovation matter more than marginal improvements.
Reliance on Base vs Royalty
Some clubs lean heavily on base guarantees. Others ride the royalty wave.
If a club’s royalty share is small, they face a cap on scaling. Large royalty takers (like Barcelona, Bayern) are positioned to gain disproportionately from future expansion.
Transparency and Reporting
One challenge is that clubs and kit suppliers may not always be fully transparent. Many of these figures are reconstructed, approximated, or derived from leaks and analyst estimates.
Royalty structures can be opaque, with thresholds, bonuses, or carve-outs baked into contracts. Nonetheless, a wide consensus has formed around the order of magnitude and relative positions.
Risks of Overreach
Clubs that overestimate their ability to monetise fans face danger. If a club launches too many variants, floods markets, or misjudges demand, they can dilute brand trust, cannibalise core sales, and face stockpile issues.
Supply chain disruptions, license infringements, counterfeit products, region-specific demand shocks (e.g. tariffs, foreign market swings) all risk revenue smoothing. Clubs must guard their brand tightly.
The Pandemic Lesson
The COVID era showed what happens when matchday revenues collapse. Those clubs with merchandise strength held better. Fans still wanted jersey, even while stadiums were silent. This experience pushed many clubs to double down on online direct sales, more region-specific logistics, and digital engagement (limited drops). The merchandising arm thus became a pillar of resilience.
What the Rankings Suggest About Jersey Sales
Because most clubs do not publish jersey sales volume, the revenue data serves as the better proxy. A club that collects high royalties must be selling a lot of shirts via official distribution channels domestically and internationally.
So when we see Real Madrid or Bayern Munich extracting €60-70 million in royalty income alone, we can infer that those clubs are among the largest sellers of replica shirts globally.
The royalty margins often run in the 10%–30% range (after production, wholesale margins, and distribution costs). So a club collecting €60 million likely corresponds to gross merchandise sales north of €200–500 million in some seasons (depending on margin structure). That’s tens of millions of jerseys across variants.
In effect, the royalty income acts as a visibility proxy: more royalty means more sales, meaning more fans wearing the shirt.
When someone asks, “How many shirts did Manchester United sell last year?” we cannot answer with confidence. But we can say: their merchandising revenue ranks them 5th, and their royalty take is modest relative to peers.
That suggests strong base pay but perhaps less penetration of modern merchandising lines or less premium SKU adoption.
You Might Also Want To Read This
- 10 Best Arsenal Players Who Have Won The No. 10 Jersey
- 10 Best Chelsea Players Who Have Won The No. 10 Jersey
- 8 Football Clubs That Have Suffered Deep Decline
- The Number 10 In Soccer – Why It’s So Special
- 10 Of The Greatest Danish Players Of All Time
- 10 Of The Greatest Irish Soccer Players Of All Time
