Co-Branded Leather Padel Gear: Club and Sponsor Logos
A sponsored padel bag or racket cover carries two logos that do not have the same lifespan: the club stays, the sponsor changes. Choosing the marking method for each one decides whether next season is a repeat or a new run.
A guide by TL San Martín, a tannery of origin in Elda (Alicante, Spain) since 1995, LWG Gold certified under the Leather Manufacturer standard.
For a co-branded leather padel bag or racket cover, put the club crest on the leather as a blind or foil deboss and the sponsor on a separate layer: a laser mark or a replaceable metal plate. The crest is permanent and the sponsor is not, so the two should not share one die. That way a new sponsor changes one small part and the bag itself stays the same.
Why does a sponsored padel bag need a different logo plan?
A club bag has one logo. A sponsored bag has two, and they do not live the same length of time. The club crest is there for years. The sponsor is there for a season or two, and then the contract changes. If both are pressed into the hide with one die, the day the sponsor changes you are left with a bag you cannot reuse or a die you have to remake.
The fix is to treat the two marks as two layers from the start. The club identity goes on the leather. The sponsor goes on something that can change. The wider programme for clubs (team bags, member gifts, pro shop) is in custom padel bags for clubs; this guide covers only the two-logo question.
Which marking method for the club, and which for the sponsor?
The four common methods charge you in different ways, which is why they suit different jobs. The full cost logic is in leather logo: deboss vs metal plate; applied to a co-branded piece it reads like this.
| Mark | Lifespan | Best method | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Club crest | Years | Blind deboss, or foil deboss for a metallic crest | One die, kept on file, close to zero cost per unit on every repeat |
| Sponsor logo, same season | One or two seasons | Laser engraving | Digital file, no tooling, easy to change for the next run |
| Sponsor logo, changes often | Season by season | Replaceable metal plate | Swap the plate and keep the bag |
| Event or season line | One tournament | Laser or small plate | Added at the end, once the details are known |
A metal plate repeats its cost on every unit, so it is not the cheapest route for a large run of one fixed logo. For a sponsor it is the opposite: the point is that the part can be replaced without remaking the bag.
How do you set the hierarchy between the two logos?
Decide who is the primary brand before the artwork is drawn, because it sets size and position. Common arrangements:
- Club-led: the crest is large on the front face, the sponsor is a smaller mark on the lower edge or the side. This is usual when the sponsor pays for the bags but the club is the identity players carry.
- Sponsor-led: the sponsor takes the main face and the club crest moves to a secondary position. This works for a corporate tournament where the company is the host.
- Paired: two marks of similar weight on one face. It needs the most careful layout, because on a bag the available flat area is limited.
Whichever you choose, get both logos approved in writing as vector files and with the minimum size each brand allows. A fine sponsor wordmark may not survive a deboss at small size, which is a reason to send it to laser or a plate.
What does the leather change?
The surface decides whether a mark reads. A smooth pigmented finish takes a crisp deboss and a clean laser line; a heavily grained or very dark finish can swallow a blind deboss, and then foil or a plate reads better. We tan and finish the leather ourselves in Elda and the library has 160+ finishes, so the colour can follow the club or the sponsor's brand colour without changing the pattern. For daily use on court we would choose a pigmented finish with a top coat, and avoid pure aniline or nubuck on pieces that are handled and carried outdoors.
Which pieces carry a sponsor best?
The racket cover and the bag are the two surfaces worth paying for. The racket cover is built to the maximum dimensions allowed by the International Padel Federation (45.5 × 26 cm, 38 mm thick), not to one racket model, so any player's racket fits; see the leather padel racket cover guide. The bag is the larger surface and the better one for a main sponsor, as set out in the leather padel bag guide. If the sponsor is paying for a tournament, the same logic applies to the prize table in leather padel tournament prizes.
How do you keep the next sponsor from forcing a new run?
Three habits do most of the work.
- Keep the leather and the pattern fixed. The club colour and the cutting die are what set the minimum, not the number of bags, so a new sponsor on the same pattern does not restart that cost.
- Put the variable layer last. Laser marks and plates are added to the finished piece, so you can order the base bags once and mark them per contract.
- Write the sponsor term into the brief. Tell us how long the sponsorship lasts and whether the logo may change in the middle of the term. It decides between a laser mark and a plate.
An approved design usually repeats in about three to four weeks, and a first sample in one to two weeks. If the sponsor needs the bags for a fixed event, work backwards from the date, as in the checklist for corporate padel gifts in leather.
Planning a sponsored padel range?
Send us the pieces, the numbers per piece, the two logos as vector files, how long the sponsorship runs and the date you need them, and request leather samples to judge the finish and each marking method on the real hide. If your order is too small for its own run, post it on the open board under Partners & factories.
Frequently asked questions
Can two logos go on the same leather padel bag?
Yes. The usual split is the club crest as a deboss on the leather and the sponsor as a laser mark or a metal plate, so each can be handled on its own.
What if our sponsor changes every season?
Use a replaceable metal plate for the sponsor, or add a laser mark to bags that were made without one. The bag and the club crest stay the same.
Does the minimum depend on how many logos we have?
No. The minimum is set by the colour and the cutting die, not by the number of marks. A second logo adds a marking step, not a new run.
Can a small club share a run with another club or a brand?
Often, yes. If your order is too small for its own run, post it on the open board under Partners & factories and look for someone using the same leather.
TL San Martín tans and finishes leather in Elda, Alicante, since 1995: LWG Gold under the Leather Manufacturer standard — the only standard under which a Gold medal exists at all; a Trader tops out at “Approved”. Request samples before you specify anything.