JAKO's founding date is not a coincidence — it is part of the story. On 9 November 1989, the day the Berlin Wall fell and a nation held its breath, Rudi Sprügel registered his sportswear company in a garage in Stachenhausen, a small town in the Hohenlohe region of Baden-Württemberg. His idea was straightforward: outfit every club between the Jagst and Kocher rivers fast and reliably. The name JAKO came from those two rivers. The philosophy has never changed. Today, over 250,000 teams in more than 50 countries trust JAKO to do exactly that — from Sunday league sides to Bundesliga professionals.
JAKO Football Shirts: Built for Every Team, Worn at Every Level
JAKO's rise through German football is one of the game's great underdog stories. The brand entered the Bundesliga in 1999 with SC Freiburg, reaching a new level in 2016 when Bayer 04 Leverkusen became the first top-flight Champions League club to wear JAKO. Since then, VfB Stuttgart have worn JAKO from the 2019/20 season, with the brand also becoming a shareholder in the club in 2022. FSV Mainz 05 joined in 2023/24 on a five-year partnership covering every squad from professionals to youth. Dynamo Dresden, Rot-Weiss Essen, and Preußen Münster complete a strong footprint across German professional football. Beyond Germany, Royal Antwerp in Belgium's Jupiler Pro League carry the JAKO name in European competition. More than 50 professional clubs worldwide now wear JAKO.
The JAKO Design Philosophy: WE ARE TEAM
JAKO's brand claim — WE ARE TEAM — is more than a marketing line. It is a working principle. The brand approaches every kit partnership as a creative collaboration between equals, investing as deeply in a club's identity and history as in the technical performance of the finished garment. The VfB Stuttgart home shirts are a masterclass in this approach: Stuttgart landmarks, including the Wilhelma, the Stiftskirche and Solitude Palace, have been woven into the fabric around the iconic Brustring, the horizontal chest ring that defines the club's visual identity. Mainz 05's annual Carnival kit has become a fan favourite, capturing the cultural spirit of Rhineland-Palatinate. When JAKO designs a football shirt, the result should feel impossible to wear for any other club.
JAKO Kit Technology: Performance and Responsibility in Every Thread
Every JAKO football shirt is engineered to perform under the demands of elite competition. Moisture-wicking fabrics move sweat away from the skin for rapid evaporation, keeping players cool and focused from kick-off to the final whistle. Ergonomic cuts and four-way stretch constructions allow unrestricted movement across every position. Sustainability is not an afterthought at JAKO — it is built into the manufacturing process. All JAKO kits for VfB Stuttgart are produced from 100% recycled polyester, and the brand is continuously increasing the proportion of sustainable materials across its full range. For JAKO, performance and responsibility belong in the same shirt.
JAKO Today: From the Hohenlohe to the World
From a garage between two rivers to a state-of-the-art logistics headquarters — the JAKO Teamcenter in Hollenbach — and a global presence across more than 50 countries, JAKO remains a family business at heart. Now led by the second generation of the Sprügel family, the brand has never lost sight of what made it: fast, reliable, and deeply personal service to every team it works with. Whether it's a Bambini squad lacing up for their first training session or a Bundesliga club preparing for European competition, JAKO treats every partnership with the same commitment.
Browse the full range of official JAKO football shirts at Footballshirts.com — home, away and third kits from one of German football's most authentic and trusted kit brands.
