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Football

20th May 2017

Schalke’s new jersey is a potential game-changer

The future is now

Darragh Murphy

What a week in Bundesliga kit news.

Wednesday night saw Borussia Dortmund unveil their new home jersey, only for them to be accused of ripping off the design by league-mates Borussia Monchengladback the very next day.

Well, leaving that dispute aside, Schalke have confirmed their plans for a new high-tech feature on their new home shirt.

Just like the Premier League, next season’s Bundesliga will see teams sport individual sleeve sponsors for the first time and Schalke have gone down a fascinating route with their deal with German online supermarket AllyouneedFresh.

But the agreement will not just see a basic logo stitched on to the sleeve. There will be much more going on.

Schalke have revealed that the shirt will see a chip integrated into the fabric which will ALLOW supporters to pay for food and drinks at the several kiosks around the Veltins-Arena.

Not only will it eliminate all of that frustrating change-fumbling with cold fingers on a winter matchday but it will surely speed up the process of queuing for half-time treats too.

The chip is currently in the developmental phase but will come as a fascinating novelty for fans in the stadium.

“This further underlines our positions as a leading innovator within the Bundesliga,” Schalke head of marketing Alexander Jobst said.

Technology, eh?

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