The sponsor printed on your shirt says a lot about you.
About how you position yourself, which audience you reach and what problem you solve. It’s not the same having Bet365 as it is having TikTok.
The absence of a sponsor also sends a message. Just like a shirt cluttered with logos.
In Brazil, the average is 5.7 brands per shirt. And our brain can only remember up to three.
So, what’s the best strategy to create value with the shirt?
Simple — but not easy: deliver results for those on it. And what delivers results for the sponsor… is impact on the fan.
Focus on the sponsor = focus on the fan.
But, as you can imagine, everything is constantly evolving. Changes in society transform companies and, as a consequence, sports properties must evolve too.
Borussia Dortmund is a perfect example.
A club with strong local roots, now accelerating its internationalisation. The announcement of a new sponsor — present in over 200 countries — makes that clear.
The football world is increasingly demanding. New investors, revenues and audiences push clubs like Dortmund to accelerate internationalisation in order to remain competitive.
In 2020, Dortmund adopted an innovative strategy: two shirt sponsors. 1&1 for the Bundesliga, focused on the local market, and Evonik for the Champions League and the DFB Cup, offering greater international projection.
In 2025, after years of sporting and international growth, the club returned to a single shirt sponsor. Vodafone, announced until 2030, a company with completely different needs. Evonik, a partner for 20 years, remained with the club but at a different sponsorship level.
In the words of Vodafone’s CEO in Germany:
“BVB has been in the Champions League every year for the past decade. This partnership brings together two brands with international reach. Our focus is on developing new technologies to enhance the fan experience, both in the stadium and digitally.”
For telecommunications company 1&1, which operates exclusively in Germany, remaining on the shirt under this new strategy would be inefficient.
More than the investment, what really matters is the adaptability of the commercial project.
Dortmund today is a more international club, capable of meeting the needs of global brands like Vodafone.
In the sponsorship game, the only certainty is change.
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