[LM24] Merchandise at Le Mans 2019

[nobster]

What did you all think about the merchandise that was available at the track?

Personally I think the last years is has shifted to many expensive brands and less about what is actually going on at the track.
I saw some people wearing those purple Wynn's racing shirts with the 85 number printed on it and the rest of the sponsor / company logos. was hoping it would have been on sale somewhere but could not find them.
A bit of a missed opportunity from Ford, having 5 different cars in the race but doing nothing with it in their merchandise...

Also the pink Pig porsche shirt that was back available this year was € 45,00 and not as nice as last year's cheaper one.

Oh and I miss the Chaters book store, too bad it is not at the track anymore.

[GT6]

We kept looking for Rebellion stuff but no were to be see, seemed that this year much fewer stalls selling stuff than usual

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by GT6

We kept looking for Rebellion stuff but no were to be see, seemed that this year much fewer stalls selling stuff than usual

And it doesn't seem like much online for the race team sadly, mostly watches and bling

[GT6]

Yes not a fan of Rebellion watches, prefer my Eterna

[Simmi]

Yeah not a great selection this year - evidenced by the fact I barely came home with any merch! Not normally the case.

Have to say that Sebring was amazing for fans in this sense. One huge tent and other centralised distributors with stalls. Loads of teams covered. At Le Mans it's not organised. And I suspect the ACO is more interested in selling their own weird merch ranges than helping the teams.

Even just small things like stickers and keyrings. Teams could make a lot of money if they had the vision. Fans are actively looking to part with cash during race week.

[Kpy]

Originally Posted by nobster

Oh and I miss the Chaters book store, too bad it is not at the track anymore.

Yes, they've been absent for a year or two now. Not even at the Classic last year.
They reckon the fee charged by the ACO is just too high for them to show a profit.
Big shame IMO

[whitemr2]

It is pretty much the same stands every year, I only bought the powerbank because I ran out of power and because they could give me a new one when there was no power left. Have to say it is good quality.
The rest of the ACO merchandise I find to expensive or not beautifull.
I also miss the bookstore, I got in contact with them and they say it is just to expensive, I think they mean, we, the spectators didn't buy enough.
Last year I was looking for a Jumbo cap ( hey I'm Dutch) but they were not allowed by ACO to sell it on site.
I agree, Ford could have done more, but, Wyns is a cliënt, so not there responsibility.
In the USA, you see stands that sell merchandise from several teams, those teams have to make a deal with the mercandiser (at least that is what I understood talking to HART whem looking fot there merchandise).

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by whitemr2

In the USA, you see stands that sell merchandise from several teams, those teams have to make a deal with the mercandiser (at least that is what I understood talking to HART whem looking fot there merchandise).

Plus a lot of the IMSA teams have stands in the paddock area too selling their advertising, I mean wares.

[eps]

Yep - gone are the days when I bought t-shirts for myself. I've still got a few Panoz tops, but that's it I do tend to buy the official t-shirt for my youngest son and one of my godson's but apart from that there's little else to choose from. As others have said it seems to be high end stuff now - Aston with Hackett and the Gulf retro stuff seemed to start that trend. Now everyone has high priced merch - don't get me wrong the quality of some of it is stunning but I guess that some baulk at paying a lot for something with Ford on it vs. Aston Martin, Porsche etc.. It's a real shame. My son who came was interested in some of the AMR stuff but I'm fairly certain we can get it cheaper now that we're back in the UK.

Gone are the days when a few locals seemed to be selling second hand toy cars from trestle tables near the Dunlop grandstand!!

[Giba]

First year at Le Mans that I have not brought any merchandise, felt they hadn't put much effort into the designs they were selling.

Wish there were more team merchandise, probably unrealistic but wish I could buy an Inter Europol t shirt if I wanted to at the track for instance.

[PascaLM]

My merguez-frites of 5 am at Indianapolis was wonderful.

[nobster]

And way too many Formula (n)one merchandise for sale...

[GT6]

The best stand was in the area at the back of the village selling loads of retro stuff, but not cheap