HOW JÄGERMEISTER CHANGED THE WORLD OF CORPORATE SHIRT SPONSORSHIPS

In the summer of 1972, it all started in a West German kitchen. It was not a case of someone combining spirits, but of a marketing professional having a breakthrough. Günter Mast, the CEO of Jägermeister, was throwing a party for several business associates. The guests had gradually left to watch West Germany's Euro 1972 quarter-final against England, leaving Mast alone on the sun deck. At this point, he saw the advertising possibilities of football.

However, there was a significant issue: sponsoring on football shirts was prohibited in West Germany. Several smaller leagues, like as Austria, Denmark, and Switzerland, had allowed sponsorship by this point, but it was still a very taboo subject in most of Europe.

Fortunately for Mast, the city of Braunschweig is only 12 kilometers north of Jägermeister's hometown of Wolfenbüttel.Eintracht Braunschweig, the primary football team, was playing in the Bundesliga, the ideal marketing platform, and, as luck would have it, was in grave financial troubles.Braunschweig had unexpectedly won the Bundesliga title in 1967 under great coach Helmuth Johannsen, only to be thrown into chaos four years later during the 1971 Bundesliga scandal.

President Ernst Fricke complained to Mast about his club's lack of funds to compete with larger clubs, claiming that it was several million Deutsche Marks in debt. In August 1972, the couple offered their Jägermeister marketing strategy to the DFB, which was, predictably, rejected. Mast then came up with the brilliant idea of evading these limits by modifying Eintracht's badge.

Mast would pay the club DM500,000 over five seasons to replace their historic lion with Jägermeister's deer insignia. The badge's diameter would be enlarged to 18cm in order to convey the marketing message. However, this was easier said than done.

Mast hired attorneys in early January 1973 to rewrite Eintracht's club statutes and identify the deer as the club symbol instead of the lion. Despite this, the DFB vetoed it, eventually relenting after two months of legal wrangling. The alteration was approved, but the badge must not be larger than 14cm in diameter and had to incorporate the club's initials on both sides.

One reason for the DFB's change of heart was that Jägermeister was made so close to Braunschweig. The team debuted their adapted kit on March 24, 1973, in a 1-1 tie with Schalke. Prior to the game, referee Franz Wengenmayer was compelled to measure Eintracht's crest to ensure it met the DFB's requirements.

Mast embarked on possibly the most ambitious portion of his concept a few years later, in 1983. He campaigned for president with the club now three million marks in debt and on the edge of bankruptcy. On October 10, he declared his signature policy: if elected, he will pay off the club's entire debt. In compensation, he requested that the team name be changed from Eintracht Braunschweig to Jägermeister Braunschweig.

Mast was elected on November 28, 1983, and the rename was approved by an overwhelming majority of members in a subsequent vote on December 14, 1983. It's worth mentioning that the deal-breaker was the very real possibility of the club closing down. It was either the name change or bankruptcy, as Mast proposed.