Rangers hit with fine for price fixing merchandise as club and sports stores rack up £2m sanction

The Competition and Markets Authority have handed Rangers Football Club, JD Sports and Elite Sports more than £2m in fines for fixing the prices of certain Rangers club merchandise.

The CMA state that that Elite Sports and JD Sports broke competition law when they fixed the retail prices of a number of Rangers-branded replica kits and other clothing products from September 2018 until at least July 2019. It also said that Rangers Football Club took part in the alleged collusion, but only to the extent of fixing the retail price of adult home short-sleeved replica shirts from September 2018 to at least mid-November 2018.

The UK Government 's competition watchdog noted all 3 firms colluded to stop JD Sports undercutting the retail price of the shirt on Elite’s Gers Online store. The autority has fined Elite Sports £459,000, JD Sports £1.485m and Rangers £225,000, while the penalties include a settlement discount which reflect resource savings to the CMA as a result of all three parties admitting to acting illegally and helping bring a swifter resolution to the CMA’s investigation.

Michael Grenfell, executive director of enforcement at the CMA, said: “At a time when many people are worried about the rising cost of living, it is important that football fans are able to benefit from competitively priced merchandise.

“Instead, Elite, JD Sports and, to some extent, Rangers, worked together to keep prices high. Today’s decision sends a clear message to football clubs and other businesses that illegal anti-competitive collusion will not be tolerated.”

Elite was the manufacturer of Rangers-branded clothing and also sold Rangers-branded products directly through its Gers Online store and later in bricks-and-mortar shops in