When a Football Shirt Becomes a Billboard

When discussing shirt sponsors in modern football, we must remember that they have long been more than an addition to a club’s identity. They are one of the key sources of revenue and an important tool for connecting clubs with local and global partners. While Europe’s biggest clubs build the value of their shirts through a handful of exclusive and highly lucrative deals, smaller clubs often have to pursue a different model: involving a larger number of sponsors and turning every available centimetre of their kit into commercial space. One of the most extreme examples of this strategy comes from Austria.

The small Austrian club TSV Hartberg, from a town in Styria with a population of just around 7,000, once attracted international attention in an unusual way. Their 2025/26 jersey was named the most heavily sponsored shirt in professional football. The club had been playing in the Austrian Bundesliga since 2018, despite operating with the league’s smallest budget – approximately €4 million.

A total of 23 sponsors appeared on the kit: 17 logos on the shirt, five on the shorts and one on the socks. At the time, this was a new record at professional level. The number of advertising marks had increased gradually over the years - 13 in the 2017/18 season, 18 in 2021/22, 19 the previous season, and finally 23 in 2025/26. At the same time, the jersey design became increasingly stripped back, eventually turning into a single-colour canvas used almost exclusively for displaying logos.

The most striking detail was undoubtedly the “#1 SPERMBOOSTER” slogan accompanied by a stylised sperm graphic. It was the branding of Profertil, a male fertility product manufactured by pharmaceutical company Lenus Pharma. The company was led by Brigitte Annerl, who was also the club’s president. Alongside this eye-catching sponsor, the shirt featured local small and medium-sized businesses such as Egger Glas, Steiermark, Energie Styria, Boxxenstop and Ke Kelit, as well as larger brands such as Admiral, which was also a sponsor of the entire Austrian Bundesliga, and Thai Coco.

The Austrian Bundesliga’s regulations (Richtlinie für Spielkleidung und Ausrüstung, Article 4.1) placed no restrictions on either the number or size of advertising marks. The only requirement was that the player’s number and name remained legible. As a result, seven of the league’s twelve clubs had more than ten sponsors, while Austria Vienna displayed the Wien Holding logo ten times on the same jersey. The league’s commercial director, Bernhard Neuhold, pointed out at the time that expanding the network of local partners reduced financial risk and helped clubs operating in smaller markets.

Reactions from TSV Hartberg supporters to the jersey have generally been mixed, but largely critical. Some commenters support the club and its sponsors, posting messages such as “I love it,” “Looking good” and “You’re doing great,” while others describe the shirt as a “walking billboard,” a “kit manager’s nightmare” or simply say that it looks bad.

The slogan “#1 Spermbooster” has attracted particular attention. Some fans embrace it with a sense of humour and treat it as a recognisable part of the club’s identity, while others make fun of it. The comments also include jokes that Hartberg has “more sponsors than RB has history,” as well as short reactions such as “Spermbooster,” which have received a significant number of likes.

Reactions across social media were even harsher: some fans claimed that the club crest had become almost unrecognisable, while sports media compared the jersey to a NASCAR racing suit or an advertising billboard. At the same time, some supporters understand the commercial logic behind the approach, since the sponsors generate important revenue for the club, although there are concerns that an excessive number of logos could reduce the shirt’s appeal and sales.

Sponsorships accounted for around a quarter of Austrian clubs’ revenues on average, while at Hartberg the figure reached 35%. The strategy also proved successful in terms of media exposure. During the jersey launch on July 18, 2025, Google searches for the club increased tenfold, while the story went viral through outlets such as Sport Bible, DAZN and EuroFoot. This was a significant result for a club that otherwise averaged around 3,000 spectators and had just 17,000 Instagram followers – the fewest in the entire league.

Elsewhere in Europe, the situation was considerably more restrictive. The English league allowed only three sponsors – on the front of the shirt, the sleeve and the space below the number – while Italy allowed four, subject to strict size restrictions. Germany, Spain and France generally allowed between two and four. Outside Europe, the picture was different: Brazil’s Operário PR featured almost twenty logos, while Bolivia’s The Strongest and Club Bolívar went as high as twenty. China’s Super League, by contrast, limited clubs to just two sponsors in order to prevent them from overshadowing state-owned brands.

Hartberg therefore remained an extreme, but not isolated, example of how regulatory flexibility can turn a football jersey into a genuine advertising billboard.