Bayern, three more Bavarian clubs reportedly facing major sponsorship woes / News - Basketnews.com

Bayern Munich, as well as three other German Basketball Bundesliga clubs from the Bavarian region, are coping with a sponsorship crisis that's not likely to end anytime soon.

Credit: Christian Kolbert/Kolbert-Press/dpa Credit Christian Kolbert/Kolbert-Press/dpa

Sponsorship is currently in crisis in German basketball and Bavarian clubs are particularly affected, according to a recent report from Christoph Leischwitz of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SD).

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The four Bavarian clubs in question are FC Bayern Munich, Medi Bayreuth, Brose Bamberg, with the disengagement of the club's sole shareholder, and Wurzburg, who recently lost their main sponsor in s.Oliver.

"Top-class sport tends to distract from the fact that sponsors are increasingly reducing their support or dropping out altogether, and that shareholders are no longer interested. Local politicians sometimes react half-heartedly, sometimes cold-heartedly, when it comes to rescuing a team," notes Leischwitz in the article.

At the moment, indoor sports in the professional area as well as football in the third division and in the regional league are particularly affected. There is a risk of a financial collapse on a scale that could change the German sports landscape.

The situation in basketball is particularly extreme, with all four Bavarian clubs in the Bundesliga being affected.

Medi Bayreuth made the start at the beginning of the year with a call to "roll up their sleeves" to close financial gaps. A week later, managing director Johannes Feuerpfeil announced his retirement, and a week later, after 39 years, the sole shareholder and spiritual father of the club, Carl Steiner followed suit.

Also in January, main shareholder Brose announced the exit in Bamberg at the end of the season. Wurzburg announced in mid-February that they were worried about their license for the coming season.

"We're missing a seven-figure amount. If we can't compensate for that, it's no longer possible to play at the same level as in the current Bundesliga season," the club's managing director Steffen Liebler told SZ.

After many years of involvement in FC Bayern Munich, Baywa, a globally active group with the business units Energy, Agriculture and Building Materials, went down a sponsorship level. The difference in a club with such appeal is of course that it is easier to find a successor. Thus, another company (Siegmund) emerged as the main and shirt sponsor.

Cities the size of Wurzburg, on the other hand, are currently severely affected. If an economic commitment did not pay off at all or only minimally, then the emotional or personal bond would often be decisive. However, this is increasingly lacking in regions in which medium-sized companies shape the character of the entire population.

The probability that sports funding really pays off is also reduced because it costs more and more.

Steffen Liebler cites the costs that have to be paid to the BBL.

"In the coming season, it will be 70,000 euros more than in the current one," he notes.

In addition, there would be higher expenses because of energy prices, payment for security and catering, among other things because of the increased minimum wage.

"It's also about licensing terms, we can't save anymore," he adds. "We don't want to expand, experiment, or do crazy things. We just want to keep the standard."

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