It's always been like that, also for football shoes.
Look at the adidas Nitrocharge: they came in three tiers, from the "entry level" one which was super affordable to the "real thing" on that would cost an arm and a leg.
Adidas does that too, they release two versions of the kit: the "replica" one (sold to fans) and the "authentic" one (which costs more or less like one and a half replica kits but, according to them, is the exact same shirt that gets issued to the players). Many of the differences are in the fabric (especially in the capacity to reduce heat):
I'm not saying this is correct or fair, but I always found it sensible at least when it happened to boots (not everybody would spend 200+ euros on a pair of shoes which he'll use three to four hours a week for a couple of seasons).
Look at the adidas Nitrocharge: they came in three tiers, from the "entry level" one which was super affordable to the "real thing" on that would cost an arm and a leg.
Adidas does that too, they release two versions of the kit: the "replica" one (sold to fans) and the "authentic" one (which costs more or less like one and a half replica kits but, according to them, is the exact same shirt that gets issued to the players). Many of the differences are in the fabric (especially in the capacity to reduce heat):
I'm not saying this is correct or fair, but I always found it sensible at least when it happened to boots (not everybody would spend 200+ euros on a pair of shoes which he'll use three to four hours a week for a couple of seasons).
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