German Bundesliga football club RB Leipzig has named real estate developer CG Gruppe as its shirt-sleeve sponsor.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The German Football League (DFL) announced in December 2015 that clubs would be free to pursue shirt-sleeve sponsors for the 2017-18 season after electing to end its central marketing approach for branding on that area of teams’ jerseys.
Logistics service provider Hermes had 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.
RB Leipzig becomes the sixth Bundesliga club to have signed a sleeve sponsor for the 2017-18 season, joining Schalke 04, Eintracht Frankfurt, TSG Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin.
The 2016-17 campaign marked RB Leipzig’s first season in the Bundesliga. The club enjoyed an impressive top-tier debut, finishing second to qualify for the Uefa Champions League.