Anti-competitive apparel arrangement brings six-figure fine for football club
The competition authorities in the UK have issued Leicester City Football Club with a fine of up to £800,000 for entering into an “anti-competitive arrangement” for the sale of team shirts and other products with retail group JD Sports.
In a statement on July 5, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Leicester City had reached an agreement with JD Sports that the retailer would stop selling Leicester City-branded clothing online for the 2018-2019 football season.
For the following season, they agreed that JD Sports would disapply a company-wide offer of free delivery of online orders of more than £70 when it came to orders of Leicester City-branded clothing so as not to sell at a lower price than the club itself.
In other words, fans of other clubs had free delivery from JD Sports on team shirts and other products if they spent more than £70, but Leicester City fans did not. This arrangement continued until the start of 2021, when JD Sports reported what was happening to the CMA. For this, JD Sports will not be fined for its part in this arrangement.
The retail group said none of its current or former directors or senior management had any involvement in this matter. It added that it had taken a number of steps to strengthen its competition compliance programme.
