The IPL fervour started from April 18 and Kolkata has already bought KKR merchandise worth Rs 5 crore. Kolkata Knight Riders merchandise include jerseys, t-shirts, sneakers, caps, among other accessories.
Reebok is the official merchandise partner for Kolkata Knight Riders and Planet M recently joined the league. Reebok and Planet M are selling jerseys at close to Rs 1800 per piece, while tshirts are priced Rs 400 onwards. The sneakers are being sold for Rs 2,000 while the caps cost around Rs 150 each.
Planet M, which recently associated itself with Kolkata Knight Riders for merchandise, will have special Kolkata Knight Riders zone inside its stores which will stock a range of KKR merchandise, including key chains, coasters, mugs, bandanas, sippers and posters for its fans in the city. On the anvil are also more collectibles.
The Planet M merchandise is priced between Rs 30 and Rs 50,000, and the stores are also selling KKR games.
However, bulk of the sales is happening in shops which are selling spurious KKR merchandise. These include shops at New Market in central Kolkata, where the jerseys are priced between Rs 800 and Rs 1000, compared to Rs 1,800 at Reebok and Planet M stores. The caps and t-shirts are being sold at new Market at close to Rs 50 and Rs 150 respectively.
Reebok could not be contacted for official comment.
However, Reebok store managers in the city confirmed sale of at least four jerseys and t-shirts every day. According to the manager of the Reebok showroom in Forum mall, "Jerseys and t-shirts are the highest selling KKR merchandise so far. We even ran out of jerseys last week but have refilled our stock."
The Reebok store manager at South City mall in Kolkata informed, "T-shirts are selling like hot cakes. This store has already sold 30 Kolkata Knight Riders t-shirts."
According to the store manager of the Reebok store on Camac Street, "Contrary to popular belief, the Kolkata Knight Riders merchandise is being sold throughout the month and not just before the matches played at Eden Gardens."
According to individual shops in New Market, which are selling spurious KKR t-shirts, jerseys, caps and accessories, "People mostly buy t-shirts and jerseys which they like to show off on days when Kolkata Knight Riders play at Eden Gardens. Each consumer looking for Kolkata Knight Riders merchandise spend Rs 500 on an average. We have around a 100 consumers buying t-shirts and jerseys every day."
What is interesting is that many smaller sports clubs in the city are conducting cricket matches among its members following the IPL format. They too buy the KKR merchandise.
According to Uma Bhowmick of Pratichi Club, located in south Kolkata, "Since most of our young boys are interested in cricket and IPL, we thought of organising cricket matches among our club members. As IPL is the buzzword now, we thought of following the T20 format and playing as Kolkata Knight Riders would, wearing the same jerseys. We have already bought around 12 jerseys for our participating boys."
