Insurance company HDI has expanded its partnership with Hannover 96 to become the first sleeve sponsor of the German Bundesliga football club.
Under the agreement, HDI’s branding will feature on the left sleeve of Hannover’s shirts. The length of the deal was not disclosed but it will at least cover the 2017-18 season.
HDI has held naming rights to Hannover’s home stadium, the HDI Arena, since 2013.
The company's branding will feature on Hannover’s shirts for the first time during the team’s game against Mainz on August 19.
The German Football League (DFL) announced in December 2015 that clubs would be free to pursue sleeve sponsors for the 2017-18 season after electing to end its central marketing approach for branding on that area of teams’ shirts.
Logistics service provider Hermes held rights to the area under a four-and-a-half year contract that expired at the end of the 2016-17 season, with its branding having appeared on the sleeves of all players in the top-tier Bundesliga and second-tier 2.Bundesliga.