Competition and Markets Authority reveals price-fixing talks over Rangers FC shirts

jomacbe

Well-Known Member
The competition regulator has revealed the private talks held between executives and their employees who colluded to fix the price of replica Rangers FC shirts.

The Competition and Markets Authority documents detail how an employee at JD Sports was “shitting himself” when he came under pressure from Elite, a sports supplier, to increase the price of a Rangers shirt by £5. The regulator’s investigation revealed how the football club, based in Glasgow, colluded with the two firms to increase the price of a Rangers shirt from £55 to £60.



JD Sports and Elite have been fined £1.49 million and £459,000 respectively, while Rangers was fined £225,000.

The watchdog’s report outlines how Rangers executives were concerned about “noise coming from the fans” and a “frenzy” on

This is behind a paywall, anybody copy it?

 
The competition regulator has revealed the private talks held between executives and their employees who colluded to fix the price of replica Rangers FC shirts.

The Competition and Markets Authority documents detail how an employee at JD Sports was “shitting himself” when he came under pressure from Elite, a sports supplier, to increase the price of a Rangers shirt by £5. The regulator’s investigation revealed how the football club, based in Glasgow, colluded with the two firms to increase the price of a Rangers shirt from £55 to £60.
JD Sports and Elite have been fined £1.49 million and £459,000 respectively, while Rangers was fined £225,000.

The watchdog’s report outlines how Rangers executives were concerned about “noise coming from the fans” and a “frenzy” on social media when customers saw that shirts were dearer on Elite’s website, Gers Online, than they were at JD Sports. Elite made Rangers-branded clothing and sold club-branded products through its online store and later in shops in Glasgow and Belfast, while JD was the only UK-wide major retailer also selling the shirts.

The regulator’s report said Rangers became focused on “normalising the club” after fans boycotted its merchandise in protest at a deal signed with Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct.

Elite won a contract to supply JD Sports with Rangers clothing and gave a recommended retail price of £55 for the shirts in a price list in May 2018. The supplier later agreed with the club to launch the shirt at a price of £60 on Gers Online but failed to communicate the price change to JD Sports, which started selling the shirt at the cheaper price in September 2018 before noting the price difference.

One employee emailed a colleague that changing the price “would get us terrible press”.

A Rangers director told the regulator that the club “got an avalanche of complaints from fans not long after the strips had gone on sale”. The director added: “We’ve got a lot of fans saying ‘wait a minute, what’s happened here?’, you know, ‘You’re ripping us off.’ ”

A club director was told to contact Elite to “see what they can do”. The director told the watchdog that the conversation “was along the lines of, ‘We’ve got a problem with the board. They’re kicking my ass here. What can be done about it?’ ”

A director at Elite told the regulator that they then called JD Sports “because I had the world raining down on me from Rangers”. They said that the conversation “was along the lines of, ‘Look, we’ve made a pretty major clerical error with our recommended retail prices we suggest to you ... I would like to recommended that you adopt our revised recommended prices.’ ”

Elite then became concerned that the JD Sports employee was not senior enough to make the changes. The director texted a Rangers director to say the employee was “shitting himself with doing it” and the club should get in touch with JD directly.

The director at Elite later texted a director at JD asking if they could “call me when convenient please sir”, although the regulator said it was unclear whether the two spoke.

Elite was, however, able to report back to Rangers that “JD Sports had confirmed it would increase the price of the replica shirt to £60”.

Elite Sports Group has filed an intention to appoint administrators. The distributor, which supplied the retail outlets of a number of British clubs including Southampton and Coventry City, had an exclusive UK deal with Danish kit manufacturer Hummel.
 
A Rangers director told the regulator that the club “got an avalanche of complaints from fans not long after the strips had gone on sale”. The director added: “We’ve got a lot of fans saying ‘wait a minute, what’s happened here?’, you know, ‘You’re ripping us off.’ ”

A club director was told to contact Elite to “see what they can do”. The director told the watchdog that the conversation “was along the lines of, ‘We’ve got a problem with the board. They’re kicking my ass here. What can be done about it?’ ”


That's pretty damaging. Betrays how many at the club view the attitudes of fans (who were 100% correct)
 
What should have happened is the club should have told Elite they had made the mistake and picked up the tab.

Instead the director, whoever they may be, has shown contempt for the fans and gone the other way.

Fit to be a custodian of our club? Debatable.
Or the club match Elite's price and sell outs at £55.
Money grabbing bastards. Every opportunity they have the club fleece us.
Save me the narrative of they put money in etc they will get that money back should they sell the converted shares. Fans don't get their money back. The CL package was a disgrace especially when there was no backing for the manager following CL qualification.
 
With that background, it does not really sound as bad as “price fixing” makes it out to be. Am I wrong?
It's not as extreme as other cases you will see, but the CMA take market competition very seriously. It's the foundation of why they exist - to regulate capitalism (whether good, bad, or mundane intricacies like this).

The lack of communication between Elite and JD led to JD being unable to set the price they wanted to allow for market competition, and thus here we are. A big balls up of miscommunication basically.
 
It's not as extreme as other cases you will see, but the CMA take market competition very seriously. It's the foundation of why they exist - to regulate capitalism (whether good, bad, or mundane intricacies like this).

The lack of communication between Elite and JD led to JD being unable to set the price they wanted to allow for market competition, and thus here we are. A big balls up of miscommunication basically.
This is exactly wrong. It's not lack of communication that's the problem - it's communication. In this case, the communication is a clear invitation to collude in price fixing, which is an anti-competitive practice. All 3 firms were guilty of conspiring to financially exploit the fans.
 
If JD were not told of the increase and carried on with "lower" price then why were they fined?
Am I missing something?
 
With that background, it does not really sound as bad as “price fixing” makes it out to be. Am I wrong?
Agree. A lack of communication meant a retailer accidentally listed an item at a lower price, and was swiftly rectified.

Hardly justifies the massive fines dished out to all 3 parties, and appears very heavy handed.

Someone has kicked up a big fuss over very little in order to damage the club and its relationship with trading partners. Either an insider, a miffed Elite, or the fatman.

Apple clearly insist on retailers selling their items at a set price. If a retailer knocked £5 off an IPhone to get extra traffic, and Apple told the retailer not to do it, would that be classed as price fixing as well?
 
Or the club match Elite's price and sell outs at £55.
Money grabbing bastards. Every opportunity they have the club fleece us.
Save me the narrative of they put money in etc they will get that money back should they sell the converted shares. Fans don't get their money back. The CL package was a disgrace especially when there was no backing for the manager following CL qualification.
Dave King has had his shares up for sale for about 2 years now and isn't getting his money back very easily.
 
From what has been posted it looked like our board were the ones trying to reciting the mistake no?
Yes by getting elite to speak to JD to raise the price due to complaints that the kit could be bought cheaper via JD than the official partner. Perhaps they should have put more pressure on elite to lower the price
 
Our current deal with Castore sees our merchandise priced a fair bit higher than the previous deal yet complies with the regulations.

I personally don't see the huge fuss with the previous deal, our prices weren't exactly expensive when you compared with other clubs. The so called price fixing aspect has come about through poor communication (unsurprisingly).
 
JD can take the hit , the £5 difference would be huge for Rangers. Hardly ripping the fans off, we didn’t biy from fatty for over half a decade so I’m sure there were plenty of spare fivers that fans had saved up to buy a top
 
Our current deal with Castore sees our merchandise priced a fair bit higher than the previous deal yet complies with the regulations.

I personally don't see the huge fuss with the previous deal, our prices weren't exactly expensive when you compared with other clubs. The so called price fixing aspect has come about through poor communication (unsurprisingly).
Using a tin pot company like Elite has left us stuck in the middle of another money costing shitshow
 
Looks like Elite initially gave JD Sports a RRP of £55 well in advance of launch and then, later, agreed with Rangers that the shirt would launch at £60. Elite failed to communicate that to JD Sports.
In reality Elite gave JD a price that they were making a profit at.

Our incompetent board wanted to rip us all off and agreed £60 with Elite.

They the board put pressure on Elite to get it changed.

Dont know why folk are so keen to make it out that it was problems with others rather than something we created.

Before people start pointing out the fine differences, JD and Elite got bigger fines as they went beyond fixing the prices of strips.
 
Or the club match Elite's price and sell outs at £55.
Money grabbing bastards. Every opportunity they have the club fleece us.
Save me the narrative of they put money in etc they will get that money back should they sell the converted shares. Fans don't get their money back. The CL package was a disgrace especially when there was no backing for the manager following CL qualification.
Amazes me the people desperate to absolve our board of any blame here when its clear they got the price changed to ensure we were paying as much as possible.

Elite wouldnt have gave JD a contract they werent making money on.
 
In reality Elite gave JD a price that they were making a profit at.

Our incompetent board wanted to rip us all off and agreed £60 with Elite.

They the board put pressure on Elite to get it changed.

Dont know why folk are so keen to make it out that it was problems with others rather than something we created.

Before people start pointing out the fine differences, JD and Elite got bigger as they went beyond fixing the prices of strips.
Of course Elite gave a price JD Sports were making a profit at. They would probably still make a profit at £50. However, and I'm straining my memory here, I'm fairly sure most club replica tops (not just Rangers) were retailing at £60 around that time. Every club has the right to set what they think is a fair market price, and they all do so at whatever is the highest price they think the market will sustain. By the time the launch came around Elite and Rangers had agreed on £60 - but Elite failed to communicate that to JD Sports who launched, presumably in good faith, at £55.

Thats how it reads to me though, I do acknowledge, if it was indeed like that then I'm puzzled by what later led to such hefty fines. I'm not sure the article gives the full story.
 
Of course Elite gave a price JD Sports were making a profit at. They would probably still make a profit at £50. However, and I'm straining my memory here, I'm fairly sure most club replica tops (not just Rangers) were retailing at £60 around that time. Every club has the right to set what they think is a fair market price, and they all do so at whatever is the highest price they think the market will sustain. By the time the launch came around Elite and Rangers had agreed on £60 - but Elite failed to communicate that to JD Sports who launched, presumably in good faith, at £55.

Thats how it reads to me though, I do acknowledge, if it was indeed like that then I'm puzzled by what later led to such hefty fines. I'm not sure the article gives the full story.
Really doesnt matter what other tops were retailing for.

The issue is our board decided to ensure we paid as much as possible.

You are puzzled why we got hefty fines for price fixing? :D

JD and Elite continued on beyond strips and price fixed other items.
 
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From what ive seen over the past few years, our board exploit our loyalty as away of extracting as much money from us as possible. They're not amateurs making mistakes, they're shrewd businessmen.
 
Really doesnt matter what other tops were retailing for.

The issue is our board decided to ensure we paid as much as possible.

You are puzzled why we got hefty fines for price fixing? :D
I'd say virtually every other football club work on the same premise mate. Most replica kits in the EPL retail at £65-£70 now. Everyone involved would still be making a profit at £50.
 
I'd say virtually every other football club work on the same premise mate. Most replica kits in the EPL retail at £65-£70 now. Everyone involved would still be making a profit at £50.
They could be £1000 each, makes no difference to the fact that you and many others are trying to absolve out incompetent board of blame for ensuring we were forced to pay as high a price as possible.

If you are fine with that then more fool you.
 
They could be £1000 each, makes no difference to the fact that you and many others are trying to absolve out incompetent board of blame for ensuring we were forced to pay as high a price as possible.

If you are fine with that then more fool you.
I'm not really trying to 'absolve' anyone. I've read the article and tried to interpret what it actually says. My take on that is way back in post #3.

I'm fine with Rangers charging whatever they think the market will sustain rather than simply saying it costs us £50 to make these shirts so we will sell at £50.50.
 
I'm not really trying to 'absolve' anyone. I've read the article and tried to interpret what it actually says. My take on that is way back in post #3.

I'm fine with Rangers charging whatever they think the market will sustain rather than simply saying it costs us £50 to make these shirts so we will sell at £50.50.
Yeah and in post three you were doing your best to make out it wasnt our fault.

The deal we had with Elite seen us get a certain value.

That was factored into the price agreed between Elite and JD.

Our board could have had integrity and said "Buy direct and the extra money goes to the club" instead they decided "f.u.ck that, get everyone to pay the higher price".

You claim Robertson shouldn't be sacked for "shouty voices" he should be sacked for incompetence.
 
Yeah and in post three you were doing your best to make out it wasnt our fault.

The deal we had with Elite seen us get a certain value.

That was factored into the price agreed between Elite and JD.

Our board could have had integrity and said "Buy direct and the extra money goes to the club" instead they decided "f.u.ck that, get everyone to pay the higher price".

You claim Robertson shouldn't be sacked for "shouty voices" he should be sacked for incompetence.
What was factually incorrect in post #3, which was no more than my take on the article?

As it happens, I think that there is merit in buying direct from the Club being at a slight discount, rather than at a slight premium, on other retail outlets - rather than taking the 'pay more at the Club Shop and we get a bigger slice' line. The Club Shop should be cheaper than JD Sports or anywhere else. I can see that might be a problem, however, with the Fat C*nt going out of his way to always undercut the Club.
 
Was this at the we had the retail board or after that was disbanded?

Might make it easier to figure who was the director, although King did admit him and James Blair had tight control over it.
 
What was factually incorrect in post #3, which was no more than my take on the article?

As it happens, I think that there is merit in buying direct from the Club being at a slight discount, rather than at a slight premium, on other retail outlets - rather than taking the 'pay more at the Club Shop and we get a bigger slice' line. The Club Shop should be cheaper than JD Sports or anywhere else. I can see that might be a problem, however, with the Fat C*nt going out of his way to always undercut the Club.
The last sentence that implies Elite had to communicate it to JD.

People dont buy from the fat man mainly but why does he care as our incompetents in charge ensure we give him more money than any deal would.

Martin Bain would be an improvement on this lot.
 
The last sentence that implies Elite had to communicate it to JD.

People dont buy from the fat man mainly but why does he care as our incompetents in charge ensure we give him more money than any deal would.

Martin Bain would be an improvement on this lot.
The last sentence simply repeats what it says in the article though:

Elite won a contract to supply JD Sports with Rangers clothing and gave a recommended retail price of £55 for the shirts in a price list in May 2018. The supplier later agreed with the club to launch the shirt at a price of £60 on Gers Online but failed to communicate the price change to JD Sports, which started selling the shirt at the cheaper price in September 2018 before noting the price difference.
 
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