Leicester City FC have been fined almost £900,000 after a probe into price fixing with JD Sports.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said both the Championship club and retail giant have admitted they broke competition law over the sale of Leicester City-branded clothing, including replica kit, in the UK.
Leicester City and their parent companies have agreed to pay a fine of up to £880,000.
The CMA added that it is "not suggesting, and has no reason to believe, that the parent companies themselves were directly involved in the unlawful conduct".
JD Sports reported the illegal conduct and admitted its participation in the alleged conduct by way of a leniency application.
The Greater Manchester-headquartered group will not receive a fine "provided that it continues to co-operate and to comply with the other conditions of the CMA’s leniency policy".
The case relates to the following arrangement between Leicester City FC and JD Sports:
- In August 2018, that JD Sports would stop selling Leicester City-branded clothing online for the 2018/19 season
- In January 2019, that JD Sports would not undercut Leicester City in terms of online sales for the 2019/20 season by applying a delivery charge to all orders of Leicester City-branded clothing – disapplying its company-wide promotional offer of free online delivery for all orders over £70
- By July 2020, that JD Sports would continue to apply delivery charges to online orders of Leicester City-branded clothing for the 2020/21 season as well. This continued until at least 26 January 2021
Michael Grenfell, executive director of enforcement at the CMA, said: "Strong and unimpeded competition between retailers is essential to consumers' ability to shop around for the best deals.
"Football fans are well-known for their loyalty towards their teams.
"In this case we have provisionally found that Leicester City FC and JD Sports colluded to share out markets and fix prices - with the result that fans may have ended up paying more than they would otherwise have done.
"Both parties have now admitted their involvement, allowing us to bring the investigation to a swift conclusion.
"The fine that Leicester City FC and its parent companies have agreed to pay sends a clear message to them and other businesses that anti-competitive collusion will not be tolerated."
In response to the CMA, JD Sports said: "JD brought the conduct to the CMA's attention in January 2021 and has co-operated fully with the CMA throughout this investigation.
"By bringing the matter to the CMA's attention JD was able to approach the CMA for leniency in accordance with the CMA's leniency policy.
"JD and the CMA subsequently signed a leniency agreement on 30 June 2023 under which the CMA has granted JD full immunity from any fines. In accordance with the CMA's leniency guidance, JD will continue to maintain complete and continuous cooperation with the CMA until the conclusion of its investigation.
"No current or former directors or senior management of JD were involved in the offending conduct, which took place in 2018-2021.
"JD has taken a number of steps to strengthen its competition compliance programme and the board reaffirms its commitment to making the necessary resource available, internal and external, to ensure that this is embedded into its daily operations.
"JD is committed to offering great value to its customers with a best-in-class omnichannel retail experience."
Leicester City said: "Leicester City Football Club has today received a statement of objections from the Competition and Markets Authority, relative to its investigation into the sale of LCFC-branded products and merchandise, commenced in September 2021.
"LCFC has cooperated fully with the CMA’s investigation, which related to the supply of limited volumes of replica kit and other branded clothing to JD Sports for resale over the course of two and a half seasons (2018/19, 2019/20 and the first half of the 2020/21 season).
"No current club directors or senior management were involved in the arrangements with JD Sports.
"These arrangements related to a limited number of bulk orders by JD Sports, which were accepted by the club’s retail sales team over the relevant period.
"There was no intention on the part of the club to unlawfully restrict the resale of the goods supplied and no material financial advantage to be gained from doing so, given the limited amount of kit supplied to JD Sports.
"However, the club accepts the CMA’s findings and has taken steps to strengthen its training and compliance measures to ensure the club’s retail operations fully comply with competition law.
"The club also wishes to clarify, and the CMA has acknowledged, that LCFC’s owners King Power and V&A Holding had no knowledge of or involvement in these sales arrangements."
