By Alexander Krassimirov
July 31 – They may have been dropped to the amateur leagues and non-professional status, but Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia is still pulling in commercial interest and has signed a contract with Italian sportswear company Lotto. The appareil brand will replace another Italian company, Legea.
The three-year agreement between the two sides was signed by the official representative of Lotto in Bulgaria’s Sport Depot department store.
The deal will provide CSKA with free kit and equipment charge and the club will receive 20% from the sale of the kits and merchandise. The funds raised will go to support the club’s youth academy who will also be wearing by Lotto.
Lotto projected that by the end of the year they expect to sell around 3,000 shirts, which means that earnings will be about BGN 200,000 (€100,000). The price of the kits is from BGN67 (€33.5) to BGN74 (€37) – away kits are more expensive.
“The t-shirts have been on sale from July 27t. The price of the home kit is BGN 67. As a bonus, fans can have a name and number printed on the shirt for free. The away kit will cost BGN 74,” said Krasimir Tsonov, CEO of Sport Depot.
He also said that by mid-August the company will launch a further range of CSKA merchandise using the club’s marks. These will be considerably cheaper, with shirts beng about 29 BGN (€ 14.5). The range will be exclusive Sport Depot stores throughout Bulgaria.
As CSKA rebuilds following its financial collapse, the strength of the club brand is already proving that in the lower divisions they will likely be a well funded force (having forgone their debt) as they play their way back to the top flight.
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