German soccer team’s deal with gunmaker draws some boos

One of Germany’s most successful football clubs, Borussia Dortmund is rooted in the industrial Ruhr area and prides itself on retaining its working-class roots, community involvement and anti-establishment mentality.

That’s why, in the week before one of the biggest games in the club’s history, some Dortmund fans are angry about a sponsorship deal with Rheinmetall, a major German arms manufacturer. Everyone from club officials to lawmakers has weighed in, sparking a debate about normalizing the military in German society. Still, many fans prefer to focus solely on Dortmund’s performance in the showpiece of the European season, Saturday’s Champions League final against Real Madrid.

Dortmund’s three-year partnership with Rheinmetall, announced on Wednesday, includes advertising and marketing rights in Dortmund’s stadium and club grounds, but not – crucially for some – a place on the team’s famous black and yellow jerseys. Neither side would confirm the amount of the deal.

Generations of Germans, raised on the postwar idea that their nation would “never again” foment armed conflict, remain uncomfortable in their dealings with the defense industry. Unlike in the United States, where professional and college sports events often feature uniformed soldiers unfurling American flags and fighter jet flyovers, outward displays of patriotism and military associations at sporting events in Germany are rare.

Some fans would like to keep it that way.

“Borussia Dortmund is a football club that is a standard-bearer for tolerance and social projects,” said Inge Fahle, a retired teacher from Dortmund and a fan of the club since childhood. “A sponsorship with an arms manufacturer simply doesn’t work,” she said.

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said in a statement that the club “consciously opened ourselves up to dialogue” by partnering with an arms manufacturer. He said the partnership reflected the role that a company like Rheinmetall has come to play in German society since the country intervened to support Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia.

“Security and defence are fundamental cornerstones of our democracy,” Mr Watzke said. “Especially today, when we see every day how freedom in Europe has to be defended. We have to deal with this new normality.”

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck also defended the sponsorship this week, noting that it reflected the geopolitical reality Europe now faces. Germany has provided about $30 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including ammunition, tanks and other equipment from Rheinmetall.

“For Rheinmetall to sponsor a football club is unusual, but it shows where we stand,” said Mr Habeck.

Since Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Rheinmetall’s business has boomed. Shares in the company, which makes the Leopard tanks that Germany and some of its NATO partners have sent to Ukraine, have increased sixfold in the past three years.

Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said he expected the company to receive about a third of the 100 billion euros ($109 billion) that Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged to revitalize Germany’s military in the coming years.

Dortmund’s fortunes are also on the rise, thanks to his performances in the Champions League. The club, which like all German teams is controlled by its members but is also the only club in the country’s top flight with shares traded on the stock exchange, has revised its financial forecasts upwards twice this year. It now expects a net profit of up to €50 million, around double its target at the start of the season. Dortmund has the second highest turnover in the German league, after Bayern Munich, according to Deloitte.

When asked about the sponsorship, Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said so he would rather concentrate on Saturday’s match.

Fans play a powerful role in German football and have been known to organize demonstrations against decisions they view as overly commercial or otherwise endanger the sport.

Earlier this year, a backlash forced the league to abandon talks with a private equity firm over a deal that would have given teams a $1 billion injection in exchange for a share of broadcast revenue. Dortmund’s Watzke is chairman of the league’s supervisory board.

Dortmund’s fan relations chiefs issued a brief statement saying they were focused on the Champions League final. But they confirmed that management had spoken to them about the deal beforehand and that they had objected to it.

“It is not always possible to reach a consensus in these dialogues,” they said. “As was the case here.”

Anna Neumann, who works in local politics in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and will advocate for Dortmund on Saturday, said several Premier League teams in England are sponsored by gambling companies and firms linked to countries criticized by human rights groups in England. Germany.

“Rheinmetall is helping people in Ukraine defend freedom and self-determination,” said Ms. Neumann. “I’ve heard from friends and people that they don’t think it’s such a bad deal, and neither does the debate surrounding it.”