Borussia Dortmund have signed a five-year, €150 million partnership with Vodafone, consolidating their front-of-shirt inventory across all competitions. But this isn’t just a new logo on a jersey — it’s a signal of how top-tier football clubs are evolving their commercial strategies to reflect shifting brand ambitions, fan expectations, and market dynamics.
From Dual Deals to Unified Storytelling
Previously, Dortmund split their shirt sponsorship between two brands — 1&1 in the Bundesliga and Evonik for Champions League and domestic cup games. It was a tactical play to extract more value from segmented audiences and broadcast territories.
But in 2025, they’re pivoting to a unified sponsorship model with Vodafone. This gives the telco front-and-center visibility across every match, domestic and international — and more importantly, it allows Dortmund to tell one coherent brand story across all fan touchpoints.
This shift highlights a growing trend: fewer, bigger, better partnerships. In a fragmented media landscape, consistency matters more than ever.
€30M/Year: The New Benchmark in Bundesliga Sponsorships
At €30 million per season, the Vodafone deal becomes one of the most valuable shirt sponsorships in German football — more than double the Bundesliga average (€13.5M).
Interestingly, it’s slightly less than the combined total of Dortmund’s previous deals, but what the club loses in aggregate fee, it gains in:
- Simplicity and brand clarity
- Longer-term partnership value
- Integration potential across platforms
It’s a strategic trade-off — one that prioritizes long-term growth over short-term gain.
Why Vodafone Did This Deal
For Vodafone, the BVB partnership is about reclaiming relevance in Germany. The company is fighting a fiercely competitive battle against Deutsche Telekom, which has long leveraged its partnership with Bayern Munich.
By aligning with Dortmund, Vodafone achieves:
- A direct counterweight to Telekom’s dominance
- A powerful brand vehicle with international reach
- A launchpad for digital fan experiences, co-created with the club
In essence, this is less about shirt space and more about platform power — turning football into a lab for digital innovation, 5G activations, and smart content.
Evonik’s Shift: Sustainability as Sponsorship 2.0
While Evonik exits the front of the shirt, it isn’t exiting Dortmund. Instead, the brand will focus on sustainability and health activations, tying into its evolving brand purpose. This move reflects another rising theme in sports sponsorship: “impact over imprint.”
Sponsorships are no longer just about visibility — they’re about value creation through shared missions.
For rights holders, the Vodafone x Dortmund deal offers a blueprint:
- Repackage inventory with clarity and long-term scale
- Design partnerships around co-created IP, not just placement
- Leverage football’s media muscle as a digital testing ground
- Position sustainability and social impact as value drivers, not side projects
Smart clubs are no longer chasing more sponsors. They’re curating fewer, deeper relationships that drive brand equity and commercial innovation.
Need help designing smarter sponsorship models?
At 365247 Consultancy, we help clubs, leagues, and brands engineer high-impact commercial partnerships that go beyond the jersey.
