By Paul Nicholson
June 22 – Scottish Premiership side Rangers have reached a new retail agreement in their long running and bitter dispute with Mike Ashley and Sports Direct (SD).
Under the old agreement Rangers Retail Ltd (RRL) – the company running the merchandising business and controlled by Ashley – will be liquidated. Instead Rangers will now deal directly with Sports Direct in a new deal that will see more income go directly to the football club rather than be lost in the joint venture.
For Ashley the advantage in the deal is that Rangers fans, who had been boycotting club merchandise en masse, will now be encouraged to return to buying official product.
“Supporters now have certainty that any money they spend on Rangers products will be hugely beneficial for the Club. SD will benefit from the increased sales and from the opportunity of demonstrating the part its retail skills can play in building and commercialising the Rangers brand which was always SD’s intention,” said a club statement.
Under the new arrangement the will receive the majority of net profits from the retail operations at the Rangers Megastore and the re-launched Webstore as well as an equal share of net profits from sales through Sports Direct outlets.
Rangers will also obtain a priority dividend on the winding up of RRL.
The club described the financial arrangements as “transformed”. The clubs said that both parties “hope that the new arrangements will be long standing but there is no longer a fixed commitment on that front. We will rely on our combined commercial performance and drive to cement the relationship going forward.”
It has been a relationship characterised by legal dispute and boardroom manoeuvres up to this point. Ashley ultimately failed in his bid to gain control of the club in 2015, but he still had control of the merchandising rights, ultimately cutting off the club from one of its most lucrative revenue streams. The boycott by fans of club merchandise further strangled the income but also precipitated the new arrangement.
“Rangers has traditionally been one of the best performing brands in British football and the Club believes the new arrangements can restore it to that position, providing funds to invest in the team and facilities at Ibrox and Auchenhowie,” said the club.
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