It remains a challenge to get your hands on the Nike Springbok Rugby jerseys in South Africa, primarily due to Nike’s distribution rights, which limits sales to selected retailers.
These particular stores include Total Sports, Studio 88, Sportsmans Warehouse, and the official SA Rugby online store, sarugbyshop.co.za.
But this wasn’t the case when ASICS was in partnership.
Nike took over from ASICS as an apparel partner for the Springboks at the beginning of this year to supply the national team with playing kits as well as additional apparel away kits for the Boks.
In September, the Competition Commission launched an investigation after other independent retailers complained about Nike’s refusal to allow them to sell official Springbok Rugby jerseys, and these retailers haven’t been revealed due to potential backlash, per the SABC Sport report.
Meanwhile, Dirk Klopper of Kloppers Sport revealed in a recent chat with Cape Talk that Nike sent a letter to smaller, independent stores like his to notify them that Nike would be “cutting out smaller sports stores”.
“Nike products have been discontinued since 2019. They sent us a letter out of the blue saying that the store doesn’t meet the objective criteria of Nike’s business strategy going forward,” says Dirk Klopper of Klopper Sports.
Going back to the Competition Commission matter, the independent retailers accused Nike of violating the Competition Act by agreeing to exclusive distribution of the Springbok merch to certain retailers, while such a restriction wasn’t there when ASICS was the technical apparel provider.
SABC Sport further reports that Nike clarified that these suppliers can’t sell Nike products on the company’s behalf, and this rule may be reconsidered after nine months or during the off-season.
The commission’s Siya Makunga confirmed to the Daily Maverick the launch of an investigation but could not provide further details.
Amidst this, the South African Rugby Union issued a warning to fans about online shops selling counterfeit merchandise and scamming people.
The stadium jersey is priced at R1399, while the fan jersey costs R899, and the match jersey is R2499.
The Nike deal with SA Rugby, spanning the 2023 and 2027 Rugby World Cups, will extend until 2027.
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