2020 Kit

[HuddsTigers]

Love them all.

Nice to have yellow back. Not as keen on the black one but may have to purchase.

[nottinghamtiger]

Nice to have yellow back.

I’m not buying it unless it’s officially amber.
And just to be picky, we’ve never played in a yellow shirt with a white V so I’m not sure how it’s a “heritage” shirt. If anything, it’s closer to a 2014 home shirt than anything else we have worn.

[lurcher]

like all 3 and as a supporter who is well into his 8th decade i've taken to the orange (and this is the best orange design yet) over the old traditional amber as it looks brilliant under floodlights. and lets be honest thanks to sky most of our games are under floodlights. like the black as well but its not a good choice if you run predominately white lurchers who moult twice a year.

[The Firm]

All three are pretty smart. If the quality is up to scratch then the club could be on to a winner.

[North Leeds Tiger]

Thank goodness the kits have all been launched and in enough time for Christmas, we can now get back to worrying about third rate half backs and the locks on the ladies toilets

[mart0042]

I like them, think it'll be the black shirt for me once I check it the material.

A pretty good collection of training stuff as well and it's under our control.

[Flat Capper]

Apologies if this has already been covered but it appears as though the kit supplier is a new subsidiary of the Club in the guise of 'Club Castleford'.

Does anyone what this entails as I assume we are unlikely to be asked by any other sports club to provide their kits?

[derbystiger]

I wouldn't say I'm exactly blown away by anything, but a step in the right direction. It looks like there will be something for everyone by the time the full range comes out so we can't say the club haven't listened. The material of the replica shirts has prevented me from buying one for the last few years and I've stuck to polos/hoodies. I'm interested to see the material of the black away shirt as it looks a different material to the other 2. Overall not a bad effort that should see most people finding something that appeals to them. If I don't like the replica shirt material of the black then there are a couple of polos/hoodies there already that I will buy anyway.

[nottinghamtiger]

Apologies if this has already been covered but it appears as though the kit supplier is a new subsidiary of the Club in the guise of 'Club Castleford'.

Does anyone what this entails as I assume we are unlikely to be asked by any other sports club to provide their kits?

My understanding is that the shirts themselves (and other merchandise) will be manufactured by Oxen (owned by the same individual who owned the licence for the XBlades brand in the UK in 2018 and 2019). I guess the ‘Club Castleford’ thing has come about through negotiations into how much profit the club keeps from sales. I’m speculating, but I guess that the club will keep more of the profits, but with that comes a higher purchase rate (as the company making the shirts don’t have their branding on them).

[Mr XP]

Apologies if this has already been covered but it appears as though the kit supplier is a new subsidiary of the Club in the guise of 'Club Castleford'.

Does anyone what this entails as I assume we are unlikely to be asked by any other sports club to provide their kits?

My understanding is that the shirts themselves (and other merchandise) will be manufactured by Oxen (owned by the same individual who owned the licence for the XBlades brand in the UK in 2018 and 2019). I guess the ‘Club Castleford’ thing has come about through negotiations into how much profit the club keeps from sales. I’m speculating, but I guess that the club will keep more of the profits, but with that comes a higher purchase rate (as the company making the shirts don’t have their branding on them).

Does this mean the shirts are cheaper this year due to a cheaper shirt manufacturer being used as opposed to having a nike/isc/xblades mark up ??

[nottinghamtiger]

Apologies if this has already been covered but it appears as though the kit supplier is a new subsidiary of the Club in the guise of 'Club Castleford'.

Does anyone what this entails as I assume we are unlikely to be asked by any other sports club to provide their kits?

My understanding is that the shirts themselves (and other merchandise) will be manufactured by Oxen (owned by the same individual who owned the licence for the XBlades brand in the UK in 2018 and 2019). I guess the ‘Club Castleford’ thing has come about through negotiations into how much profit the club keeps from sales. I’m speculating, but I guess that the club will keep more of the profits, but with that comes a higher purchase rate (as the company making the shirts don’t have their branding on them).

Does this mean the shirts are cheaper this year due to a cheaper shirt manufacturer being used as opposed to having a nike/isc/xblades mark up ??

I doubt it.
The cheaper manufacturing began in 2018, when the UK licence for XBlades was bought by the guy who owns Oxen (and Elite Pro Sport). You’ll notice on the labels in the shirtS that up to 2018, merchandise was made int he UK, yet in 2018 this moved to the Far East where it is much cheaper to manufacture. I suspect the new stuff will still be made there (probably in the same factory!).

[tallguyx]

The stuff looks like xblades type stuff with a different badge on. Good luck to the club for trying something different.

[tigerfeat]

When you look at the diabolical mess Bradford are in... Widnes and Leigh scrating around to sign bang average championship players im happy to hand over my dosh to buy shirts help the club make money if theve come up with a plan good luck to them
I don't always agree with what they get up to but on this occasion can't fault em

[nottinghamtiger]

The stuff looks like xblades type stuff with a different badge on. Good luck to the club for trying something different.

It’s been an interesting couple of years in that respect.
The XBlades shirts in 2015, 2016 and 2017 were designed and manufactured directly by XBlades. Towards the end of 2017, XBlades sold the UK side of the business to Elite Pro Sports, owned by Lee Jenkinson, alongside all the existing deals with clubs, so whilst they retained the XBlades branding they were designed by Elite Pro Sports and manufactured in the Far East.
As the old XBlades deals have come to an end, Oxen (the manufacturing side of Elite Pro Sports) have made new deals with the clubs, essentially just continuing the partnerships already there but putting a different brand on the shirts and other merchandise.
It’s likely that clubs currently with ISC (Hull and Leeds) will go down the same route. They are with ISC at the moment - deals first done when Lee Jenkinson was working for both clubs, coincidently just after he had left ISC! The ISC factory in the UK is due to close this year, and rumour is that the UK side of ISC has been sold to.... Lee Jenkinson! Either they will keep the ISC branding but it will only be in name, as the stuff will be designed by Elite Pro and manufactured through Oxen (even if their branding doesn’t appear on the shirts themselves).
In terms of the Club Castleford concept, I guess it’s a way of trying to increase profits by paying more for supply but not having to hand over as much profit to the manufacturer. I guess it will depend on the specifics of the deal, but be assured that Castleford Tigers are not employing the people who either design or manufacture the merchandise directly. My concern is that Lee very rarely comes out on the wrong side of anything, he’s extremely astute and if he’s agreed to take less profit from sales, he’ll be making that back and more through higher supply costs.

[tigerfeat]

It will be a deal that suits both parties surely

[HuddsTigers]

The benefits are all referenced in this article: https://www.castlefordtigers.com/article.php?id=6660

* Greater control of all aspects of the club’s retail operation moving forwards.
* A “best of both worlds” deal with the club’s own retail brand supported by partners Elite Pro Sports, which has over 30 years’ experience in production, retail and e-commerce.
* Future opportunities for local community clubs to license the Club Castleford brand for their own merchandise needs, with further details on this at a later date

Club Castleford is our own brand. I feel it's a mutual partnership where Elite Pro Sports get access to the Tigers' brand and resources and we get access to their manufacturing and supply links to be able to go out and create our own products. This means rather than being limited to a small range of products or supply lines, we can go out and create, sell and develop our own than being limited to the small range of a supplier, ergo meaning more designs, bigger range, more revenue. I would imagine we're not contractually tied to a company and their range either, meaning we can go out and use it for other products, items and objects.

I would imagine that Elite Pro Sports will take a cut of the manufacturing or creation of the items and we'll perhaps get money from selling the Club Castleford licences to local clubs, anything they create and sell.

Perhaps a question for the next edition of Tiger Talk https://www.castlefordtigers.com/article.php?id=6654

[nottinghamtiger]

I would imagine that Elite Pro Sports will take a cut of the manufacturing or creation of the items and we'll perhaps get money from selling the Club Castleford licences to local clubs, anything they create and sell

It’s exactly this. We are paying more to have the items manufactured, but giving away less of the profits to the manufacturer (Elite Pro/Oxen).
If sales go well and the higher cost of manufacture is outweighed by keeping more of the profits, all is well.
If sales go badly and the higher cost of manufacture is not outweighed by keeping more of the profits, it’s not so good.

[StevieTheTV]

I dont mind all of the kits, plus the training and everyday range seems to be better.

My only hang up is the Club Castleford logo....it didnt need the wording underneath the logo. Nothing major but just would of enhanced the branding for me.

[Casmania]

I dont mind all of the kits, plus the training and everyday range seems to be better.

My only hang up is the Club Castleford logo....it didnt need the wording underneath the logo. Nothing major but just would of enhanced the branding for me.

This may be due to the club apparantly letting the clubs logo trademark lapse last year.

[Mysterio]

I dont mind all of the kits, plus the training and everyday range seems to be better.

My only hang up is the Club Castleford logo....it didnt need the wording underneath the logo. Nothing major but just would of enhanced the branding for me.

This may be due to the club apparantly letting the clubs logo trademark lapse last year.

....WHAT?

WHAT!

That deserves a topic all of its own I think. It says oh so very much.