Shirt sponsorships include the appearance of the sponsor's logo on the shirts of a team. The most valuable area on the shirt is usually the chest, because it provides the largest area and it is most often visible in the stadium, on photos and on television broadcasts. Other popular areas for shirt sponsorship are the arms.
The German Football Association (DFB) allows sponsorships on the trousers as well as on the chest and the arms. Many other sport associations have similar rules. A little bit more place is available for handball teams, who are also allowed to print sponsor logos on the side of the shirts.
Eintracht Braunschweig was the first club in the football Bundesliga who had a shirt sponsor. Quickly afterwards, many other clubs in professional and amateur sports followed suit. As of now, shirt sponsorship is extremely common in the sports sector.
The area on the chest of a team is often reserved for the main sponsor of a team.
In the amateur sector, shirt sponsorships are available for a fraction of the price of the Bundesliga. The sponsor often only has to cover the costs for a new set of jerseys. Nonetheless, the price-reach-ratio of shirt sponsorships in amateur sports can absolutely keep up with professional sports. Sponsoo has calculated that a sponsor could theoretically sponsor all amateur football teams in Berlin for a duration of several years for the price of an average Bundesliga shirt sponsorship (app. €5 million per year).
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