Choosing footballs with your logo on
A football with your badge on it gets kicked, carried home and kept.
Clubs and companies both order footballs printed with their own logo.
These notes help you pick a ball that suits how it will be used. They draw on the Laws of the Game, FIFA and GOV.UK.
Start with how the ball will be used
A ball for a match, a ball for training and a ball for a stand at a fair can be quite different things. It helps to tell your supplier which one you need.
If the balls are for a junior team, ask your league which size its matches use.
Size and weight of a full-size ball
The Laws of the Game set out what a match ball must be. It has to be round and made of suitable material. Its circumference is between 68 and 70 centimetres. It weighs between 410 and 450 grams at the start of a match.
The Laws also set a range for the air pressure inside the ball.
Quality marks
FIFA started its Quality Programme for footballs in 1996. Balls that pass its tests can carry one of three marks. These are FIFA Quality Pro, FIFA Quality and FIFA Basic.
Each mark shows the ball has been tested against its own set of technical requirements. National football associations may require one of these marks in their competitions.
What a match ball can carry
In official competitions run by FIFA, the confederations or national football associations, the Laws of the Game do not allow commercial advertising on the ball. The ball may show the competition's logo, the organiser's logo and the maker's trade mark. Competition rules may also limit the size and number of these markings.
So a ball printed with a sponsor's logo suits training, events and gifts better than league matches.
Using a logo you have rights to
Your own club badge or company logo is the natural choice. To use someone else's trade mark or design, you usually need to buy the rights or get their permission. GOV.UK explains how this works.
Branded gifts and tax
A business that gives footballs away may want to know how HMRC treats them. HMRC usually allows the cost of a gift that carries a conspicuous advert for the business. This does not apply if the gifts to one person in the tax period cost more than £50 in total.
HMRC says the advert should be on the gift itself, not just on the wrapping. A logo printed on the ball is on the gift itself.