So essentially we are stuck in a predicament of being unable to sign a retail deal with someone else because of the matching clause in the contract that we signed a few summers ago. So the last 2 years worth of court appearances have been for sod all. Other than to further ruin the working relationship between the club and SD/Ashley. Which let's face it was never on a good footing to begin with.
Seeing a lot of people calling for contradictory stances. The only way we rid ourselves of him, is for the fans to suck it up and continue buying merch in spite of Ashley and without further damaging the club itself. The only way we get a potential better deal from another company is if we can show that it's worth their effort to give us one. Here is the kicker, they still need to understand that with any potential deal agreed, that the new potential retail partner could be sniped on exactly the same set of contractual terms by SD and Mike Ashley. So we are stuck in a loop? Unless someone offers a deal that either goes way above what SD are willing to go or isn't financially viable for the new retail partner either.
Calls for another boycott are pointless. As most of us already do boycott Ashley and his business' in some way or another already. This is grimmer than I thought it could be. We are stuck basically. Other than us trying to renegotiate terms and paying to remove the infinite renewal clause. I don't see a way forward on this in the short term. Long term, unless King leaves and some else comes in, might remove the petty side of things. Sadly all of this is conjecture.