LOI Promotion Activities

[pineapple stu]

You don't and can't know how many people bought it without knowing money goes to Palestine. You don't and can't know how many bought it from websites or market stalls selling "fake" copies of it, which is quite prominent. You can't and don't know how many people bought it without knowing or caring if Bohs are a football club. Some will google "Fontaines DC jersey" and click on the store to buy it, get the link on a twitter thread or reddit or whatever.
While those are technically true, I can give pretty good answers I'd say -

1) I'd say the vast majority of people would have known the money was going to Palestine. As I say, it's on practically every press release about it, and on the club site at point of purchase. And I don't see it for sale on the Fontaines website, so it's not as if people are buying from the band.
2) Fake copies are irrelevant - Bohs can make money off the Palestinian genocide, but even they don't get any money from fakes.
3 and 4) If you Google "Fontaines DC jersey", literally the first search returned is "Adult 2025 Third Jersey Fontaines D.C." and is on the Bohs website. And the vast majority of press about it starts off by referring to the Bohemians FC third kit.

Maybe some people don't know what it is - but I'd wager the vast majority do. it's very hard to avoid.

I think you're in a bit of denial there, and there's no real basis for your arguments.

[bohsmug]

The basis for my argument is nobody has a basis for the argument. So this is old men yelling at clouds stuff. The relevance to fake jerseys isn't that it's included in the jersey sales, it's that it's linked to the buyer's behaviour. We don't know the buyer behaviour, aside from this jersey is reaching beyond the typical target audience for LOI shirts. It's been very prominent at festivals, particularly those with Fontaines on the bill in UK & Ireland. We don't know what conversations led to those purchases. We don't know what was enticing about it. Somebody who has already decided they're buying the Fontaines jersey isn't necessarily going to read anything in the text beyond size and price - that's fairly common behaviour. You can't know what influence the Palestine donation had in making that decision because nobody has looked into it.

[pineapple stu]

We don't care about fake jerseys though if the argument is that Bohs are making money off a war. They're not making any money off fake jerseys.

And I'm suspicious of people who try shoehorn erroneous arguments or try the old "No-one can know anything so the whole debate is pointless" trick.

[sbgawa]

Bohs could kill the argument by doing what Dundalk did and give 100% of the third jersey profits to charity instead of keeping the vast majority of it. Dundalk can hold their heads up for doing the right thing, for bohs it just looks awful .

[bohsmug]

You'd have to understand what's driving the purchases (ie buyer behaviour) or have some kind of indication before jumping to the conclusion that it's support for Palestine that has led to jersey sales. If so then the 30% donation is the driver for the sales and the profit for Bohs.

The fake jerseys is an indicator of the demand. Those buyers weren't buying the jersey for the donation, how do we know what percentage of official purchases were driven by the donation? It's not erroneous, it's an indicator that at least in many cases the donation is not what's driving demand.

If the donation isn't the driver then it's not where the profit is coming from. I've seen more indicators that demand is from a kind of fashion or "cool" factor linked with the band more than anything. If sales have picked up over the music festival period that could be seen as another indicator of the band driving demand. The jersey is currently sold out due to recent demand.

[Dermobohs]

Bohs are making money off a genocide.
Jesus Christ but that’s such a crock of ********ology I don’t know where to even start.
Bohs planned the shirt, designed the shirt, got permission from the band, consulted with oneills to see how feasible it might be, and took advice on how much it would cost as the club would be bearing the entire cost plus the risk entailed.
So from the cost of the shirt oneills get a cut the charity takes imo a very healthy risk free no strings 30%, or roughly 23€ per sale.
I’d say Bohs are looking at roughly 20% as a profit, considering we are also handling massive distribution which also has to be paid for.
All just sounds like sour grapes and bitter sniping from non Bohs people who can’t believe we’re so good at selling stuff.
I make it five shirts making money for various good causes, yet this one because it’s sold 4million€ or so gets picked out, strange that.

[sbgawa]

Sorry but I don't know where you are coming up with your 20% profit for bohs...the stuff on the jersey is very clear 30% of PROFIT for charity so 70% for bohs. With Dundalk it was 100% charity. Profit is after jersey and distribution cost. If memory serves me it used to be 15% charity 85% bohs so they must be conscious of the percentage

[Dermobohs]

I would say 20% of the sale value of the shirt goes to Bohs after all costs are deducted.
I’m guessing, same as you.
Couldn’t be much more imo.
100% would not be viable on that scale of sales we’d lose our shirts as it were.
All very well if it’s a low key small selling one like Dundalk, and well done them on that one.
Anyway, it follows the pattern of ALL our other contributory shirts, and I’m sure the various good causes welcome it.
A pity all the clubs didn’t think of it.
Not our fault we have a marketing genius with a conscience as COO but there you are.

[sbgawa]

I'm not guessing the bohs press releases at the release of the jersey (google it) say 30% to charity of PROFITS. so 70% to bohs.
100% agree taht bohs are great at marketing and rovers and the rest of the league could learn a lot from them but taking 70% of the profits is to much imo. Even if u don't want to do a dundalk giving 100% to charity surely it should be at least an even split and you still make a fortune

[Dermobohs]

I’d say if 50% was viable it’d happen.
Something is better than nothing, and as I mentioned before we are a club totally dependent on memberships sponsors and, you guessed it, marketing. No debts written off , no shortfalls allowed.
So if we have to make big money on sales , c’est la vie, that’s how we are full time, in the premier, and affording to build up our underage women’s and community wings of the club.
The people’s club means the people have to somehow fund it.

[Nesta99]

Except this just isnt true - Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have been trying to coordinate an Arab nations and Gulf Nations response to reconstruct Gaza the moment there is a ceasefire

Also has been well pointed elsewhere you dont make peace with your mates so like I think a true peace process deals with the political actors in the region as they are

When it comes to the middle east its relative, by saying how quiet other Arab countries are I'm really thinking of war and stuff, not a bit of a rant in the UN or future plans if or when a ceasefire happens. Now I know its super complex geopolitics and Israel have shown many times that taking them on imilitarily is risky, but there is also an element of thinking that Hamas ummm overreached. Now that does not condone how Palestinian people are being treated en masse. Hesbollah were quick to pull the necks in after some token skirmishing, Iran are neutered and relying on proxies like lawless Houthi warlords. Countries that have actual clout like Egypt, UAE, Jordan, Saudi, there has been little more than lip service, yup minding allegiences with US (and FIFA, WTA, boxing etc etc) but even the Palestinian Authority has kept fairly quiet - a bit of civil unrest in the West Bank would have bee an old norm.

[pineapple stu]

Bohs could kill the argument by doing what Dundalk did and give 100% of the third jersey profits to charity instead of keeping the vast majority of it. Dundalk can hold their heads up for doing the right thing, for bohs it just looks awful .
One thing I will say is I don't know if there's Palestinian motifs on this jersey. I know there has been on other jerseys.

So if there's specific Palestinian stuff on the kit, then I think it is getting to a stage where they're making money off the war. If it was an afterthought to give a portion of the profits of a kit with no Palestinian motifs to charity, then that's probably more reasonable.

(On a side note btw - third jerseys in general can feck right off. Pure money making racket, nothing else)

[2 Year Contract]

(On a side note btw - third jerseys in general can feck right off. Pure money making racket, nothing else)

Given the amount of times we were seeing home teams have to wear their away kit in home games due to kit clashes I feel they’re necessary. Plus any money making racket for a league of Ireland club is a good thing

[pineapple stu]

How often have we seen that though? And is it really that hard to get an away kit that doesn't clash with your own home kit?

[2 Year Contract]

How often have we seen that though? And is it really that hard to get an away kit that doesn't clash with your own home kit?

It was pretty often to be fair. Off the top of my head I’ve seen Pats have to wear an away kit at home to Bohs several times (and Bohs wear their away in Dalymount), Shels, Sligo, Galway at various times through the years. The issue isn’t clubs being unable to get an away kit that doesn’t clash with their own home kit, the issue is with their home kit AND their away kit being deemed too similar to some other clubs kits. For example Pats wear red with white sleeves and a lot of the years had navy away kits, but when they play in Dalymount the red was deemed too similar to Bohs red/black, as was the navy, resulting in the solution of Bohs wearing their own white away kit at home, while Pats wear navy.

Another issue the referees have created is sleeve colours. So when Pats would play at home to Bohs when Bohs have an all white away jersey, the sleeves were deemed to clash, meaning the solution was for Pats to wear an away kit at home etc.

Some alternative ways around it are for a set away jersey colour to be assigned to certain clubs or all kits be approved by the FAI before being created to ensure there’s no clashes. Neither of those are realistic at all, so naturally in the last few years, the FAI have made it mandatory for all clubs to have a third kit available to use, which is the norm across most of the world at this stage in modern football

[pineapple stu]

Sleeve colours clashing is a bit silly. I can understand why it's a thing, but it also wasn't a thing for decades and we got along just fine

Pat's shouldn't be wearing navy away kits if it's clear both and red will clash with Bohs every time.

And if both teams have to wear away colours - so what?

I'll acknowledge this is grumpy old man shaking first at tree. It's a minor minor thing. But still. Go away out of that with third kits

[Bohtastic]

Trying to remember which particular ref always used to be giving out about kits... was it buttimer?

[pineapple stu]

The one and only, yep

[2 Year Contract]

Trying to remember which particular ref always used to be giving out about kits... was it buttimer?

He’s actually the one that started the whole issue with the ‘clashing sleeves’. Sligo turned up to Inchicore in early 2008 with an all white away kit and had no other alternative kit to wear. Buttimer wouldn’t let them play in it, deeming it to clash against the sleeves of Pats home kit so kickoff ended up being delayed by about 20 minutes until eventually the resolution was Sligo wearing a Pats away kit from 2 years previous! Always been a bugbear of mine when you see Arsenal vs Tottenham being played in those exact colours for decades with no issues

[Nesta99]

I cant remember which games but Buttimer insisted on the teams changing kit but the keepers coulers clashed with he ref and nothing was said. Should have insisted that he wore his ref jersey inside out!

[Kiki Balboa]

€1.56 Billion is being bet on the League of Ireland Men's over a season according to UEFA.

[KianD]

How often have we seen that though? And is it really that hard to get an away kit that doesn't clash with your own home kit?

There was a year in the English FL Championship that Brighton, who play in blue and white, managed to have sufficient blue in both the away *and* third kits that it forced at least one home team to have to play in their away kit. Final year with that kit manufacturer I believe, so I wonder if it was partially sabotage by the designer!

As is the normal case in England, their away colours are changed constantly for shirt sales income; their old traditional away was yellow and blue; but nobody really cared about partial clashes back then.

[pineapple stu]

That's a bit mental!

Though having a look at Brighton's kits the past few years, it seems their third kit in any one year is the second kit from the previous year. There's logic in that as an emergency back-up.

[2 Year Contract]

There was a year in the English FL Championship that Brighton, who play in blue and white, managed to have sufficient blue in both the away *and* third kits that it forced at least one home team to have to play in their away kit. Final year with that kit manufacturer I believe, so I wonder if it was partially sabotage by the designer!

As is the normal case in England, their away colours are changed constantly for shirt sales income; their old traditional away was yellow and blue; but nobody really cared about partial clashes back then.

Coincidentally while over in Istanbul at the Pats match last week, I noticed that Besiktas’ home kit is white, their away kit is black and white stripes and their third kit is black. If they play away to a team that wears black and white they’ve snookered them instantly :D Mad aul decision

[EatYerGreens]

Coincidentally while over in Istanbul at the Pats match last week, I noticed that Besiktas’ home kit is white, their away kit is black and white stripes and their third kit is black. If they play away to a team that wears black and white they’ve snookered them instantly :D Mad aul decision

Besikitas's colours are black and white stripes (as seen on their crest). They also have a red shirt as well at the moment, presumably to cope with the potential clashes above. Last year they had a quite nice dark/camoflage green one too.

[Buckett]

I'm not sure we can call the LOI the GLITW until we've had a shirts v skins game take place.