The Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote
Welcome to The Promo Playbook, your backstage pass to the world of promotional marketing. Brought to you by Cubic Promote (https://www.cubicpromote.com.au/) Australia’s award-winning supplier of branded merchandise, this podcast is your go-to guide for making marketing and promo products work harder for your business. In each episode, we unpack real campaigns, talk to industry insiders, and share practical strategies to help you boost brand visibility, engage customers, and stand out. From trade shows to onboarding kits, we cover it all — with no fluff, just real insights that convert.
The Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote
Why Steph Curry’s Golden State Custom Printed Jersey Costs $180 in Australia
Ever wondered why a Steph Curry Golden State Warriors jersey costs $180 in Australia? In this video, we break down the hidden costs behind fan merchandise, from manufacturing to licensing and retail markups. Get the inside scoop on what makes these jerseys so expensive and why fans are willing to pay the price! We have the answers because we are Australia's leading wholesale supplier of custom merchandise, and custom jerseys to 1st Tier Sports clubs around the country. Read the blog here: https://www.cubicpromote.com.au/blog/why-steph-currys-golden-state-custom-printed-jersey-costs-180-in-australia
Find out more and visit our website: https://www.cubicpromote.com.au/
Welcome to the next episode of the Promo Playbook by Cubic Promote. Today, we're going to be talking about sportswear, sports licensing, and the price of fan items like football jerseys, basketball jerseys. and other related fan merchandise and fan apparel. So once again, I've got my friend Anil here.
SPEAKER_01:G'day, Charles. Look, thanks for bringing this up. This is something that's actually quite close to my heart. Just the other day, I took my son, 15-year-old, to the rugby game, the Roosters. They won, by the way. And I had to buy him all of this merch, this sports merch, and it was so expensive. Like, coming from the apparel industry myself, I do know what the underlying costs of these things are, but why is it A team jersey, like$150 to$180. It's crazy stuff. What's the breakdown? Who gets the money
SPEAKER_00:from this? It's crazy stuff. Me and my son, we love NBA. We love basketball. And I've got here, this is a jersey I got him. If you're listening to this podcast, I'm holding on to a picture of a Warriors, Golden State Warriors, Steph Curry fan. Take a guess. How much did this jersey cost, Neil?
SPEAKER_01:It would have to be at least$140 to$150. Wow.
SPEAKER_00:That's a good guess, but you're a bit off. More.
SPEAKER_01:More? We can't afford it.$180,000. Where does the money go, Charles?
SPEAKER_00:That is crazy. You know what? We're going to get an expert in, one of our resident experts, Wendy Lee. I'm going to have her break down all the numbers for us.
SPEAKER_01:Wow. She's coming on site to tell us about this. I've heard a lot about her.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, 100%. Good things. I'll get her on right now. Excellent. I look forward to it. Hey, so Wendy, I was just talking to my mate Anil a moment ago, and we were talking about the price of... sporting goods, fan merchandise specifically. And I was talking about a Steph Curry jersey that I purchased from my son. We're Golden State Warrior fans. They're not in the finals this year, but it doesn't stop us from being fans. And this jersey that I've got here, for those listening on podcast, was$180 Australian dollars. And now I know you have a bit of experience with merchandising, working with custom branding for sports teams, both big and small around Australia. Can you take us through exactly why this jersey would cost$180? Surely this jersey cannot possibly be that much to produce, right? So what are some of the basic costs, Wendy?
SPEAKER_02:Sure. So you are right about it doesn't cost that much to produce. In fact, the cost price to produce that exactly jersey is only around$20.
SPEAKER_00:$20? Yes. So it costs$20 to come out of a factory, but by the time it hits the shores... for us to make a purchase is$180. So that's$160 that we need to make up a difference for us to understand why.
SPEAKER_02:Well, as you all know, labor in Australia isn't cheap and rent isn't cheap. So half of the$180, roughly around$90, is going to retailers markup so they can use to pay their rent, pay their labor in Australia.
SPEAKER_00:So$90 and the jersey is$180, but we're going to take$180, we're going to minus$20, that's$160. So$160 minus$90, that leaves us, if my mathematics is right,$70. So where exactly does the$70 come from, assuming$90 goes to the retailers?
SPEAKER_02:Sure, so$70... don't forget there's a big chunk of it going to license. So the manufacturer will need to buy license from NBA as well as from Golden State. So I think NBA represent the whole league, including Golden
SPEAKER_00:State. That's definitely there. So sports licensing, that's a very, very big piece out there. So who exactly gets the money in sports licensing? Is it a combination of the sporting teams? Is it the NBA Association? Is it Steph Curry himself? Or is it? all these parties involved getting a chunk of the$30?
SPEAKER_02:So say you take the example of$30. So in NBA's case, it's the NBA firstly get the$30 first. However, all the team will have agreement with NBA annually. You have to, you know, out of your income, give me 5%, 10%, which is confidential, so I can just make up a number. So then indirectly, your$30 at the end of the year will go into the team. And then it depends on the player, how they sign the agreement with the team. So they might have to cut off revenue. Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Depending on how good the player is.
SPEAKER_02:And how good the player and how good is the bargaining power.
SPEAKER_00:Sure, sure. Okay, so now we're almost at the full$180 price. What are some of the other elements that you're aware of that makes up$180 final price to me? This is Australian dollars, by the way, audience.
SPEAKER_02:So the final price, including shipment, because you have to ship the goods to Australia. to Australia, to the store. So that three cost involved as well as, and another big chunk will be marketing. So yes, as good as the shirt and Steph Curry wear it, they may want to hire some influencer on TikTok or on Instagram to wear the same jersey to make it hot, like a hot item. And they all cost money. So another big chunk of spending will be marketing.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. And
SPEAKER_02:then that's all. That's all the material, all the things you make up for the cost price of a shirt.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so there you go. Straight from an expertise's mouth,$180 jersey. The breakup is a combination of the sports licensing, The cost of the product, the markup for the retailers, some marketing involved and some freight and logistics. Fantastic. Well, thank you for sharing. I think our audience would have learned quite a bit today.
SPEAKER_02:Sure. But next time, please use Lakers. I'm a Lakers fan. I refuse to talk about Golden State.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. Go Lakers. Yes. Thank you for watching, everyone. No
SPEAKER_02:worries.
SPEAKER_00:So that was really interesting listening to Wendy talk about the breakdowns of a$180 sports jersey and the different components that make up the total cost. One of the few things that we haven't talked about with sports jerseys, sports marketing, as well as the sports licensing industry in general, is the difference between star players as well as star teams. If you're purchasing one of the major teams, likely you'll be paying a bit more money. If you're purchasing a jersey with a star player's logo at the back of it, likely that player will be taking on board a licensing cut too of the fee, which in your terms means, or our terms, means that we'll be paying more for a Steph Curry jersey compared to, say, a bench player on the Golden State Warriors. And this experience is replicated between other Australian sports as well. Your A-leagues, your NRLs, your unions, and all the different codes that we play in Australia. The sports licensing is a very big industry. And in future episodes, we're going to talk about the impact of counterfeits on this market as well. There are some amazing counterfeits that have been created over the past couple of years where the quality of these counterfeits is on par with the original jerseys. And in some instances, they even surpass the quality of original jerseys. It's fascinating. We'll dissect through a couple of different jerseys. We'll literally cut them up in front of the camera to show the audience here exactly the differences between quality or poorly made quality products, official quality products from the leading franchises, as well as counterfeit products and counterfeits of extremely high quality as well. So stay tuned for the next episode.
