How much Everton have earned from fourth kit as £60m Castore deal laid bare

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Everton sported a new fourth kit in the FA Cup third round defeat to Sunderland on the weekend.

The Toffees suffered a penalty shootout loss to Sunderland on Saturday afternoon after a 1-1 draw in normal and extra time.

It was a really disappointing afternoon for David Moyes‘ men, who quite unusually wore a fourth kit despite playing at home.

Everton donned the black and pink strip, which was designed to celebrate the Hill Dickinson Stadium on the docks.

That said, we decided to speak exclusively to finance expert Adam Williams to get a better understanding of the kit from a commercial aspect.

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The Hill Dickinson Stadium has given Everton a ‘unique opportunity commercially’

Williams explained that Everton have really capitalised on the new stadium from a commercial aspect this season.

The 52,000-seater has leveraged the Toffees into a new realm financially, and this fourth kit is another example of a ‘unique’ opportunity that’s arisen as a result.

“I think Everton know that this season has represented a unique opportunity commercially speaking,” the finance journalist said.

“Moving to a new stadium is a seismic moment in the club’s history and many fans understandably want a physical memento to mark it. I haven’t seen any data, but I’d be willing to wager that sales this season will have been the highest in some time. That will go for explicitly commemorative stuff as well as shirts and other Castore merchandise.

“With shirt sales specifically, how much a club can expect to earn depends on the makeup of the contract. Many suppliers will do a deal that pays, say, £5-10m up front and then 10 per cent of the net receipts on individual units sold. There are then often rewards when the club sells a certain number of units. On top of that, you have retail deals with places like Sports Direct, Kitbag and so on.

“Kit deals are complex and there are way more variables than the ones I’ve listed here, but generally speaking most of the value comes from the upfront fee. With Castore, they also did a deal to become one of Everton’s founding partners at the Hill Dickinson, which will have sweetened the partnership a little bit. That makes it a brand association deal as much as a merchandising one.”

Everton to earn £60m across a three-year period with Castore

Williams added that Everton are set to earn around £60m from the three-year Castore deal but warned that they must be careful with their commercial moves, as the Toffees were heavily criticised for playing in the fourth kit at home.

“With the fourth kit, I’d guess that this was probably pushed for more by Castore than the club itself, and releasing a fourth kit and playing in it at home for one match will have been priced into the £20m-a-year deal during negotiations.

“For the club, the good sales figures they are reportedly making will only yield a modest financial boost in real-time, because they have effectively already been paid for licensing the badge to Castore for this product.

“The timing is strange, I would say. Releasing a fourth kit in early January when household budgets are tight goes against the conventional wisdom, but there must be a rationale that I’m not seeing.

“I think the backlash against playing in the fourth kit at the Hill Dickinson instead of royal blue is emblematic of the balance Everton need to strike in this new commercial-geared era.

“You have to respect traditions and not cheapen the club’s identity by making too many nakedly commercial moves. If you do, it will ostracise fans and more than negate any short-term revenues spike.”