Soccer fans are used to seeing logos on their teams’ jerseys. Some are better than others, depending on whether the sponsor has a clause in their contract that allows the team to match their color scheme. Heck, some sponsors are even “unsponsoring” the shirt.
Basketball fans are warming up to the idea, with the little sponsor patches on NBA jerseys now.
What sports fans probably haven’t seen before is a company using its shirt sponsor space to write out its entire corporate image. Fans of Dutch soccer team PSV Eindhoven will have to read the fine print, though.
For some context, PSV was started by the Dutch electronics company Philips. The usual shirt sponsor isn’t actually one company at all, either. It’s Brainport Eindhoven, which Footy Headlines described as “a joint venture of companies and universities with specialized technology and innovation, as if it were a ‘Dutch Silicon Valley.'”
For one game only, Eindhoven will take the field with “het verhaal yachter ons shirt” (history behind the shirt), which is the longest sponsorship print on a shirt ever, with 13 lines of text.
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“This is the story of our football club PSV, our pride and joy,” Paul van Nunen, managing director of Brainport development, told Footy Headlines. “But this story also emphasizes the strength of Brainport. Because cooperation is embedded in our DNA. This innovative partnership gives us the opportunity to show even more people what Brainport Eindhoven is all about.”
To commemorate the team’s history and the city’s intellectual identity, former Eindhoven players like U.S. international DaMarcus Beasley are signing the exclusive shirt for the event. Fans can also win a copy of the shirt in a contest.
From a fan standpoint, especially a local one, it’s a fun idea that promotes local pride and team identity. From a branding standpoint—well, let’s just say we don’t think fans in the cheap seats will be very impacted by the sponsor.
But, you know, at least it doesn’t say “Bimbo.”
