The season is over, the jerseys of the youth team are worn out and new ones are needed. But a complete set of jerseys, including refinement, can easily cost several hundred euros. Very few clubs can afford such big amounts of money. Without jersey sponsorship or advertising, it is difficult to finance a new set of jerseys. Often, clubs need several sponsors at the same time.
Jersey sponsorship / jersey advertising - How it works
How do you go about it as a small to medium-sized club? How do you get sponsors on board? Which jersey print is cheap and best suited for advertising logos? What regulations need to be observed? We want to clarify all this in this article.
1. Obtain quotes for jersey printing
Probably the first thing you wanted to do now was to look for sponsors - and yes, you should definitely plan enough time for that. However, what many clubs forget: A potential sponsor should be approached directly with specific facts and figures during the first contact. It is usually not enough to "just ask". The sponsor wants to know exactly what sums he will have to pay and what he can expect in return. Ideally, you should get a suitable offer for the jersey set, including jersey decoration, before you start the sponsor acquisition process. There are a few things to consider here:
If it doesn't have to be, then of course a sponsor doesn't want to pay unnecessarily much more money. It is therefore worthwhile to look for the most favourable offer possible and thus increase the chances of sponsorship. Nevertheless, the offer should of course meet all the important requirements and be convincing in terms of quality.
What sounds simple at first is almost a science. After all, a wide variety of printing techniques are now available for jersey printing. However, if you take a closer look, the respective advantages and disadvantages of the techniques quickly become clear.
Find a good deal
If it doesn't have to be, then of course a sponsor doesn't want to pay unnecessarily much more money. It is therefore worthwhile to look for the most favourable offer possible and thus increase the chances of sponsorship. Nevertheless, the offer should of course meet all the important requirements and be convincing in terms of quality.
It is therefore always necessary to weigh up where savings can be made and where it is better to invest in quality.
In addition to the choice of jersey, the chosen printing technique plays a major role in jersey sponsorship. Depending on how many sponsors you want to have on the jersey and how elaborate their logos are, there are considerable differences:
Choose the right printing technique
Printing technology | Optics | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Flock print | soft-velvety surface slightly raised | very long lasting vivid colours & high opacity comfortable handle | prone to lint |
| Flex print | smooth, matt surface | long lasting vivid colours & high opacity special colours possible (e.g. neon) | no colour gradients possible filigree prints become expensive max. 3 colours per motif wrinkled after multiple washings |
| Screen printing | smooth surface matt or glossy | very long lasting good wash resistance vivid colours & high opacity | price increases significantly with number of colours Only worthwhile with very large print runs (oftenly possible from 20 pcs.) no colour gradients possible |
| Sublimation printing | coloured, not noticeable surface very stretchy beathable | very detailed, precise prints possible extremely long durability high opacity unlimited colour choice breathability remains despite pressure jersey design can be completely customised already very favourable for small print runs faster production | printing isnt possible on cotton |
The choice of printing technique plays an important role in jersey sponsorship.
Calculation example for the printing costs
Let's assume you want to have a set of jerseys (15 pieces) for your youth team decorated. Player number, player name and club name as well as three different sponsor logos (max. 3 colours) should be printed on the jersey.
Sublimation printing is particularly innovative, high-quality and, above all, inexpensive. Compared to all other printing techniques, the printing costs are usually included in the purchase of a jersey set. While the costs for flock, flex or screen printing increase considerably with each logo and each additional colour, the use of several colours is possible free of charge with sublimation printing. You can also find more advantages of sublimation printing at spized here.
A blank kit can vary between 100 and 800 EUR. For your youth team, you will probably find yourself in the healthy middle. A jersey set of 300 EUR will usually be convincing in terms of quality and is still within a reasonable financial framework.
Now let's take a look at the costs that you would generally have to pay for refinement:
| Flock print | Flex print | Screen printing | Sublimation printing | |
player numbers, player names and logos | approx. 250 EUR | approx. | approx. | 0 EUR |
| sponsors logos | approx. | approx. | approx. | 0 EUR |
| total | approx. | approx. | approx. | approx. |
2. Find jersey sponsors
Prepare yourself in the best possible way to make a good deal.
Now that the right offer has been found, it is a matter of finding one or more sponsors. Unfortunately, many clubs take the process of acquiring sponsors lightly and thus reduce their success. Even when financing small sums, good planning and preparation is essential.
What does the potential sponsor want?
Ultimately, it is a great help to put yourself in the position of a potential sponsor. His interest in taking on a kit sponsorship is essentially based on two arguments:
1. Jersey advertising: The sponsor expects a correspondingly high advertising effect through its own logo on the jersey.
2. Social responsibility: Jersey sponsorship is a popular way for many companies to fulfil their social and societal responsibility.
Formulate sponsor cover letter
Based on these arguments, a suitable sponsoring concept can now be worked out, which forms the basis for a sponsor letter. In it, you briefly introduce your club and provide the company with suitable arguments to convince it to sponsor a jersey:
- What image does your club project? Is this advantageous for the company?
- Which target group does the company reach with a shirt sponsorship?
- What reach can the company expect? (communication channels)
- Can you offer a potential sponsor other additional services? (e.g. perimeter advertising)
3. Implementation of jersey sponsorship
There are no limits for you in our 3D configurator.
The last step is the implementation. Depending on which printing technique you have chosen, this means either having a blank jersey printed afterwards or having an individual jersey created in one production step with sublimation printing. And this is how you proceed:
Meet the requirements of the sponsor
Of course, the interests of the sponsor should come first. The sponsor is the financial backer and ultimately has the right to determine how it wants to be presented on the jersey. Depending on the contractual arrangements you make with the sponsor, it is important to consult with the sponsor when implementing the size and type of logo as well as the positioning on the jersey.
Some print providers (z.B. spized)offer a practical "voting function" for this. Several jersey designs can be saved in the customer account, where they can then be accessed by different parties for voting.
Comply with official regulations of the umbrella association
On the other hand, there are also regulations from the federations. There are significant differences from sport to sport as to what is allowed and what is not. While handball, for example, has no restrictions whatsoever, football has precise specifications regarding the size of an advertising logo. The following dimensions are specified here:
- Logo on the chest: Max. 200 cm²
- Logo on the arm: Max. 50 cm²
But not only the size of a sponsor logo can be regulated. Often associations also pretend not to violate their own ethical or moral principles. Equally often, political statements are also prohibited by means of an advertising logo.
It is therefore best to find out which playing dress guidelines your association has set before designing the jersey.
Place sponsor logos
The classic and probably most popular place for a sponsor logo is clearly the centre chest. But many clubs are dependent on several sponsors to finance a new kit. So what other advertising space can you offer a sponsor? Below you will find a list of all possible advertising spaces on the jersey:
Front:
Back:- Central chest
- Upper chest, right and left
- Sleeves, right and left
- Lower belly
- Side belly
- Trouser leg, right and left
- Upper back
- Lower back
- Buttocks
