German workwear manufacturer Strauss is preparing to invest significantly more in its upcoming sponsorship of the UEFA European Championship than it did for Euro 2024, as the family-owned business looks to accelerate its commercial growth within the United Kingdom, according to chief executive Henning Strauss.
SportsPro can exclusively reveal that the prominent apparel brand will serve as an official workwear partner for UEFA Euro 2028. In doing so, the company will join an elite roster of global sponsors for the tournament—which is set to be jointly hosted across the UK and the Republic of Ireland—alongside major multinational corporations such as Alibaba, Coca-Cola, and Hisense.
Founded in 1948, the family-owned enterprise has firmly established itself as one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous workwear brands across German-speaking countries, generating annual revenues of approximately €1.4 billion (US$1.6 billion). Over recent years, however, the company has increasingly placed sports sponsorship at the core of its international expansion strategy, leveraging the universal appeal and massive viewership of soccer to break into new international markets.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with SportsPro in London, Henning Strauss identified the UK as one of the company’s best-performing growth markets. He confirmed that the decision by the UK and Ireland to host the prestigious international tournament was a pivotal factor in the brand’s commitment to signing on as a global sponsor.
"It’s quite a milestone for us as a brand, being one of the very few global partners, with our family brand next to some other companies that are much larger than ours," he noted. "We appreciate it as an opportunity to make more of a splash on a global scale."
The upcoming tournament represents a structural renewal of sorts for the German brand, which previously served as the official workwear partner for Euro 2024 within its domestic German market. Reflecting on that previous campaign, Strauss explained that part of the motivation for returning to the tournament stage is to convey the brand’s core corporate values of reliability and consistency on an international platform.
At the same time, Strauss acknowledged that the company’s involvement in Euro 2024 was viewed by consumers as almost expected. Because the brand already maintained a long-running, deeply entrenched partnership with the German Football Association (DFB) alongside ongoing sponsorships of various Bundesliga clubs, its presence in German stadiums during the tournament did little to drastically shift domestic brand awareness. Simply put, the company was already a household name among trade professionals and sports fans alike in its home territory.
That dynamic differs significantly from the brand’s position in the UK market, where Strauss officially launched its specialized workwear products back in 2002. Despite having built up localized partnerships with several prominent Premier League clubs—including Liverpool, Fulham, and Nottingham Forest—Strauss noted that the brand remains relatively unknown outside of its core trade audience of builders, electricians, and other construction professionals. Consequently, the company has mapped out plans to activate its sponsorship much more aggressively during Euro 2028 to substantially raise its mainstream public profile.
"Given our current market position here, we’ve been around, but there is room to grow," Strauss said. "For sure, we will be doing more [activation] than we did last time. We’re going to make sure to activate much, much more and, budget-wise, allow not only in terms of awareness, but ideally also in terms of performance [marketing], to help us actually sell."
Beyond the host nations in the UK and Ireland, Strauss also anticipates that the immense global reach of the European Championship will put the brand in front of targeted audiences across several other critical international markets, with a particular focus on North America and Australia. In the United States, for instance, linear and digital television coverage of Euro 2024 by Fox averaged an impressive 1.68 million viewers per game, culminating in a massive audience of 6.43 million tuning in for the dramatic final match. These viewing figures highlight the immense cross-continental marketing value that a European tournament can deliver for brands looking to build awareness far beyond Europe’s borders.
The brand was already guaranteed widespread visibility at Euro 2028 thanks to a recently announced agreement making Strauss the first-ever official sponsor of UEFA refereeing. That comprehensive partnership sees the company’s distinctive ostrich logo prominently displayed on referee sleeves across all of UEFA’s major club and national team competitions. In addition, the branding appears directly on video assistant referee (VAR) monitors and inside the governing body’s central video operations room located in Nyon, Switzerland.
The broader tournament-wide sponsorship package unlocks extensive commercial real estate and engagement opportunities. This includes high-impact branding across pitchside LED boards, authorized utilization of official tournament marks, and exclusive fan engagement activations. Furthermore, the partnership grants the company the exclusive right to nominate two official mascots to walk out onto the pitch alongside the match officials before every single game of the tournament.
The anticipated commercial impact of the upcoming partnership has already served as the catalyst for a comprehensive reassessment of the company’s operational strategy within the UK. Ever since preliminary talks with UEFA commenced, the business has actively adapted its product lines specifically for British tradespeople. This product evolution reflects what Strauss described as subtle, yet important, differences in the ways local workers utilize hand tools, pockets, and utility pouches compared to their continental counterparts.
In tandem with product localization, the company is currently evaluating whether to transition toward localized distribution hubs within the UK, moving away from its traditional model of shipping directly from central warehouses in Germany. Alongside logistics, the business is working to further localize its e-commerce website and regional social media channels to better resonate with the cultural nuances of the British market.
"If we claim to become relevant from a cultural perspective, we want to make sure we get those details right," Strauss explained. He added that the company is already introducing some of these localized product specialties to the British market and intends to leverage the full media power of the event to cement its market position. "[We want to] actively sell who we are, staying close to the roots, but creating that awareness and the buzz beyond workwear."
From the perspective of company leadership, preparations for Euro 2028 are already well underway. Initial strategic meetings concerning marketing activation plans have officially kicked off, ensuring that the company can maximize the commercial lifespan of the partnership. By driving brand recognition and engagement in the many months leading up to the opening match, Strauss aims to ensure the sponsorship generates meaningful business momentum long before the tournament kicks off, rather than relying solely on the intense four-week window of summer competition.
"[The question is] how we’re going to activate the partnership to really make it relevant beyond the four weeks in that summer," Strauss concluded.
