Sponsors for your club: how to get them

Where to find sponsors, what to offer them and how to place their logos so the jersey stays clean.

Sponsors can pay for a good part of your kit, and at many grassroots clubs they cover all of it. The key is to stop asking for favours and present it as an exchange of value: they gain visibility, you cut your costs.

Where to look

Start with the neighbourhood: bars, hardware shops, garages, dental clinics, estate agents, accountants, bakeries. Local businesses value appearing every weekend in front of neighbours who are, literally, their potential customers.

Then look closer to home: businesses run by players' families. It's the route with the highest success rate, because there's already a connection. Ask in the team group whether any parent has a business or works for a company that sponsors local causes.

And don't rule out the usual suspects: if the club had sponsors in past seasons, renewing is ten times easier than winning new ones.

What to offer them

Lay out your offer so it's clear there's something tangible in return:

• Logo on the shirt (chest, back or either sleeve, depending on the contribution).
• Mention on the club's social media, with a team photo.
• A sign at the ground or presence at events and tournaments.
• Appearing in the public club directory next to the crest — optional, requested when you complete your order.

Prepare a one-page pitch

Nothing sophisticated is needed, but it should look serious. One page with:

• Number of players and teams at the club.
• Matches per season and approximate attendance.
• Social media followers and the reach of your posts.
• The sponsorship options with their prices.

A business that sees numbers decides faster than one being asked for “a little help”. And it lets you justify why the chest costs more than the sleeve.

How much to ask for

There's no universal rule here, but there is a useful reference: work out what the kit costs and split it. If kitting out the team costs between €400 and €600, two or three businesses contributing €200 to €300 each will cover practically all of it. For the business it's an affordable amount; for the club, it sorts out the season.

How to place the logos without ruining the shirt

So the shirt doesn't look like a racing car, arrange the sponsors by hierarchy:

• Main sponsor: chest (centre) or upper back. It's the most visible and the most expensive.
• Secondary sponsors: sleeves or below the number, smaller.

Two practical rules: don't push any logo up against the edge or over a seam, and make sure the sponsor on the back doesn't compete with the number, which has to be readable from the stands.

In Design your shirt logos go in four areas: Chest, Back, Left sleeve and Right sleeve. You choose the area, upload the logo and drag it into place, also from one area to another, without uploading the file again. You can upload several at once, with no limit. On the sleeve you'll see a dotted line marking the recommended area: outside it, it prints just the same, but the sleeve is sewn into a tube and it may end up under the arm. Check it in 3D, which you see while you design. And bear in mind the EZ logo: it goes on the chest as standard and can't be removed, but you can move it to the right sleeve and choose its colour, so if your main sponsor wants the centre of the chest, move it and leave the space clear for them. And we don't charge per logo: you can add as many as you need, something worth checking with any other supplier.

The two sleeves give you plenty of room for secondary sponsors: instead of piling them up on the chest, put one on each side and the shirt can breathe.

Keep it consistent

Always use logos in good quality and with a transparent background (PNG or, better, vector). A pixelated sponsor or one with a white box around it looks worse than having none, and it's the kind of detail a business notices when it sees the team photo.

Always ask the sponsor for the logo rather than taking it from their website or a photo: they'll give you the good version.

Think about renewal from day one

A sponsorship that renews every season is worth far more than one you have to find from scratch every August. To get them to renew:

• Send them team photos with their logo on. It's the emotional receipt for their investment.
• Tag them on social media throughout the season, not just on the day they pay.
• If the club appears in a public directory with its sponsors, show them.

And if it still isn't enough

Combine: sponsors + a Team Store so each family pays its own share + basic shorts instead of sublimated. With those three levers, the cost the club bears can come close to zero. We go into it in affordable kits without losing quality and give you the exact figures in how much it costs to kit out a team.