The History of Jersey Sponsorship in Football

Eintracht Braunschweig with Jagermeister's logo on its jersey in 1973 ( Photo: joe)

Broadcasting revolution has changed football from sports to entertainment industry. With billion of people watching, football match is now become a huge stage for brands from all over the world.

Penarol, an Uruguayan club, was the first to put sponsor's logo on its jersey in 1950s. But it was a discontinued practice. Most European Leagues opposed the idea of placing sponsor's logo on jersey until 1970s. The only logo allowed to be placed on jersey was the club's logo itself.

In 1973, Eintracht Braunschweig and Jagermeister (German liquor) opened path for sponsor's logo on jersey. Guenter Mast, CEO of Jagermeister, offered 160,000 - 800,000 Marks over five years to put Jagermeister's logo on Braunschweig's jersey. After the agreement was signed, the club requested permission from the German Football Association (DFB) to put sponsor's logo on its jersey. However, the DFB refused and only allowed the club's logo on jersey.

But Braunschweig didn't want to miss the opportunity, since the contract value was big. Then what the club did was unexpected, it changed its logo to Jagermeister logo. DFB was surprised, but they couldn't do anything since it's the club's logo they put on jersey. Seven months later, DFB finally allowed sponsor's logo on jersey. What Braunschweig and Jagermeister did made DFB realized that there was such partnership opportunity. It was a milestone for football world as an industry.

Three years later Kettering Town FC, an English club, put "Kettering Tyres" words on its jersey after a four figures deal with the brand. But the FA (Football Association) ordered the club to remove it, then what Kettering Town did was also unexpected. It removed four letters from its jersey from "Kettering Tyres" to just "Kettering T". The club insisted that "Kettering T" stood for Kettering Town, not Kettering Tyres. The FA didn't satisfied with the excuse and warned the club with 1,000 Pounds fine threat. In the end, Kettering Town removed the logo.

One year later in 1977 the FA finally allowed sponsor's logo on club's jersey. Liverpool FC became the first English professional club to put sponsor's logo on its jersey. Liverpool was sponsored by Hitachi which was worth 50,000 Pounds during the season.

Nowadays, jersey sponsorship is a common practice that can be found in football anywhere. Clubs get million of dollars from brands to put their logo on jersey, thanks to broadcasting revolution and commercialization of football.