Lions jersey 'will maul other brands'

LIONS chief John Feehan has claimed that kit suppliers adidas expect the famous red jersey to outsell traditional top brands Real Madrid and the All-Blacks in 2005.

The news is one more example, if it were needed, of the Lions’ growth in popularity in recent years. Feehan is also confident that official Lions merchandise pre-sold for this tour will actually be twice the entire total for the entire expedition to Australia four years ago.

The number of supporters expected to travel isn’t expected to match the levels reached in 2001, but the Dublin-born CEO is far from worried about that. “I know officially how many spectators are expected to go but I know that will be an underestimation. Realistically, about 15,000 between official and non-official tours but, proportionally, in terms of stadium size, that will be far greater than was the case in Australia.