Football season print checklist.

The full checklist

Here is everything a typical booster club orders for one football season. Not every club needs every line, but most need most of them.

• Fence banners: school name, mascot and district banners for the stadium fence and press box.
• Sponsor banners: one per business, sized by sponsor tier.
• Sponsor signs: yard signs and A frame signs for the gate, the walkway and the concession line.
• Spirit wear store: an online store for parents and fans.
• Team and coach apparel: practice shirts, game day tees and coach polos.
• Booster booth tent: a branded canopy for the spirit wear and membership table.
• Concession menus: big, readable menu signs for the stand.
• Senior banners and Big Heads: for senior night and the playoffs.

The rest of this guide covers each item and when to order it. If your club runs more than football, the school and booster club print guide covers the whole school year.

Timeline from the first game

Most Central Texas varsity seasons kick off in late August. Use that date as zero and count back.

• 12 weeks out (early June): set sponsor tiers and prices, start selling, and collect the school logo and mascot files.
• 10 weeks out (mid June): approve spirit wear designs and open the store.
• 8 weeks out (early July): collect sponsor logos and send banner files. Order the booster booth tent.
• 6 weeks out (mid July): close the first store window and send it to print. Order team and coach apparel.
• 4 weeks out (late July): order concession menus and sponsor signs. Late sponsors go on a second banner run.
• 2 weeks out (mid August): everything is in hand. Hang banners before the scrimmage or meet the team night.
• Midseason: order senior banners and Big Heads 3 to 4 weeks before senior night.

This leaves room for the slow part, which is chasing logos and approvals. Proofs come back in 1 to 2 business days. Apparel takes 7 to 10 business days from approval and payment, and rush is available down to 1 to 2 days when a date sneaks up on you.

Fence and sponsor banners

Sponsor banners pay for themselves. A local business buys a spot on the fence for the season, and the banner cost comes out of the sponsorship.

• Material: 15oz vinyl, hemmed and grommeted.
• Stock sizes: 2x4, 3x6 and 4x8 ft. Many clubs sell 4x8 to top sponsors and 3x6 or 2x4 to the rest.
• Shipping: $5 flat shipping on banner orders, or pick up in Hutto.
• Pricing: quoted on the ticket, based on size and count.

Keep each banner simple. Logo, business name, maybe a phone number or web address. Fans read it from the bleachers, so small text is wasted. Ask sponsors for vector logo files, and use one shared layout so the fence looks like a set instead of a yard sale. The vinyl banner size guide covers viewing distance and wind.

Plan for late sponsors. A second, smaller banner run in September keeps you from holding the whole order for one business that has not sent a logo.

Spirit wear store

The store is where most of the season's apparel money comes in. Parents and fans order and pay online. We print in house, bundle by order, and the club never touches cash or counts sizes.

• The store earns your organization 10 to 20 percent back on sales.
• The $125 base store design fee is waived at $3,500 or more in store sales.
• Tees, hoodies, hats and more, screen printed, embroidered, or printed DTG or DTF.

Run the store in windows. Open it for two weeks before the season, close it, and print. Open a second window before homecoming or the playoffs, when hoodie weather starts. Short windows keep orders together and get gear back before the games it was bought for.

Team shirts and coach polos are usually a separate bulk order paid by the club. Minimums are 12 garments for one color and 24 for two colors. See the screen printing page for what we print in house.

Booster booth tent and concession menus

The booster booth sells memberships, spirit wear and raffle tickets. A branded tent makes it easy to find from the parking lot.

• Event tents from $999, 10x10 and up
• Free design and free shipping
• 2 to 5 business days to produce, then FedEx with tracking

Put the mascot and school name on the canopy and the club name on the back wall. The same tent works for every home game, band contests and spring events. The event tent buyers guide covers sizes and add ons, and you can browse tents and Big Heads in the print shop.

Concession menus need to be read from the back of a line. Use few words, big type and high contrast. Print the item names large and put prices on a separate small panel. When nachos go up a quarter, you replace the small panel instead of the whole menu. Menu pricing is quoted on the ticket.

Sponsor signs around the stadium

Banners cover the fence. Signs cover everywhere else fans walk.

• Yard signs: coroplast signs on H stakes line the walkway from the parking lot. 18x24 inches is the common size.
• A frame signs: two sided signs at the gate or ticket table that fold up and go home after the game.
• Booth signs: a sponsor thank you sign at the booster booth.

Signs make a good add on for sponsor tiers. A top sponsor gets a 4x8 fence banner plus walkway signs. A small sponsor gets a single sign. More options are on the signs and banners page, and sign pricing is quoted on the ticket.

Senior banners and Big Heads

Senior night is usually the last regular season home game. It is also the order that gets rushed most often, so start it early in the season.

• Senior banners: one per senior, with photo, name, number and graduation year, on 15oz vinyl. 2x4 and 3x6 ft are the common sizes.
• Big Heads: oversized face prints for the student section and parents. Big Head prints ship free.
• Photos: collect every photo by one firm deadline, all in the same orientation, originals only (no screenshots).

Send the roster with the photos. Spell every name the way it should print and mark jersey numbers. Our job ticket takes 20 files at 100MB each, so a big roster may need two tickets. Cheer, band and trainer seniors often want banners too, so ask before you order. The senior night and graduation deadlines guide covers the spring side.

Tax exempt orders, POs and paying

Schools and clubs run on paperwork, so we put it all on the ticket.

• Tax exempt: handled on the ticket. Attach your exemption certificate.
• Purchase orders: put the PO number on the ticket so it prints on the invoice.
• Net terms: Net 15 or 30 for approved organizations.
• Payment: cash, check or card.

A booster club is usually its own nonprofit, separate from the district, so the club needs its own exemption on file. Use one ticket per budget, such as football boosters, band or the campus, so each invoice lands with the right group. We only quote published prices up front. Everything else is quoted on the ticket. Start the season with a job ticket.