Record Bundesliga Deal
October 9, 2006
Gazprom and Schalke confirmed the deal at a press conference in Dresden on Tuesday -- the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived for an official state visit in the eastern German city.
Gazprom, which accounts for almost a quarter of the world's gas production and had some 64 billion euros ($81 billion) in sales in 2004, will take over the main sponsorship of the club from Victoria Insurance from January until June 30, 2012.
Experts estimate that the agreement will give Schalke 60-66 million euros by the time it expires. If the club wins titles or regularly plays in the Champions League it could see up to 100 million euros filling its tills.
Victoria, which has supported Schalke with 7.5 million euros per year, will remain a sponsor until 2012.
A "new dimension"
The deal is the largest sponsoring agreement ever in German first division, eclipsing the 20 million euros annually that Bayern Munich receive from Deutsche Telekom and giving Schalke fans a new reason to buy replica jerseys with the Gazprom logo. Players will don their new tops for the first time for the Jan. 28, 2007 match against Eintracht Frankfurt.
A huge infusion of cash is welcome news for the Gelsenkirchen-based club whose estimated debts total as much as 120 million euros, and whose on-field fortunes have been up and down of late.
"We're advancing into a new dimension," said Clemens Tönnies, chairman of Schalke's board of directors, after the deal was made public.
Club maintains autonomy
The deal was evidence of "the respect that our club earned especially on the international stage in past years," Schalke board member Gerhard Rehberg commented.
He stressed that Schalke would remain independent and that Gazprom would have "no influence whatsoever on the operative business or sports decisions."
There have been no reports about precisely who brought the two sides together, but many observers have noted that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder works as an advisor for Gazprom. It would be ironic if Schröder did have a hand in the deal, since he was always known as a fan of Dortmund, Schalke's archrivals.