Profit or Charity?
This morning I stumbled on a new auction site by a club selling shirts worn by team players in previous matches. I hadn’t seen these before but quickly found that a number of clubs in the UK have got auction sites.
As a digital entrepreneur looking at these sites, I have to say I REALLY like them. I simply see it as the clubs leveraging an asset that is already ‘theirs’. However it’s obviously a numbers game, how much will it cost to operate vs. volume of shirts & auction prices matched.
From a fans perspective, I’m sure there is an demand to own something unique from the club. This was ‘proven’ when West Ham recently put to auction parts of their old stadium. A shirt used in a weekly game (even if it wasn’t a memorable game) is certainly unique in my eyes. The debate on some online forums seem to be focused around the point whether it should be for profit or charity. The point I guess is one that historically, this kind of memorabilia has been used for charitable auctions and donations.
There is also the players perspective too I guess. They would normally exchange their shirts at the end of the game to other players or fans, and sometimes possibly keep it themselves.
I personally lean towards this being something interesting and innovative.
I’m curious to know how others in the industry see this.
