Kaizer Chiefs' disappointing showing this year has coincided with the annual drop in prices of the club's merchandise that sold like hot cakes at the beginning of the season.
Chiefs have sunk to the dumps with just a single win in eight games this year, relegating caretaker coach Cavin Johnson to a lame duck.
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What is happening on the field has spilled over to the stands as was evidenced by the rare occurrence of Orlando Pirates fans dominating the numbers in a Soweto Derby.
As Chiefs' troubles on the field continue, the club's technical sponsors have dropped the prices of merchandise on the market.
While it is normal that the pricing of the stock for the current season drops at this time of the year ahead of the launch of new merchandise for the next season, for the Naturena-based side it has occurred at the same time as their run of bad form.
KickOff.com has observed that through the last couple of weeks, the prices of Chiefs merchandise at Kappa stores, the Kaizer Chiefs store, and some selected retailers have dropped by up to 50%.
From having sold at around R1 200 at the start of the season, the Chiefs home and away jersey now retails at R600.
All other Chiefs merchandise which includes t-shirts and tracksuits, amongst others, has also dropped in prices by half.
The Kombat green away kit has proven popular as its launch coincided with the period leading up to the Rugby World Cup with the Springboks using similar green colours.
The counterfeit industry, which always hijacks this business space and mostly operates in the Johannesburg CBD, has had the Chiefs jerseys selling at prices as low as R150 since they were launched last year.
Despite these challenges, the Italian manufacturers have had brisk sales business since the partnership came into effect on July 1 last year.
Kappa returned to Chiefs as replacement for Nike, striking what is arguably the biggest deal on the domestic football scene and matching international trends.
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Chiefs had been with Nike since the start of the 2001/02 season after taking over from Reebok.
Chiefs were previously with Kappa through their years as a dominant force from 1989 to 1996 when they won 11 trophies.