Telekom Baskets Bonn play basketball in a hall called the Telekom Dome. Like all league games, the appearances in their bright magenta-colored jerseys are broadcast by the Telekom streaming service MagentaSport. Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom and the Baskets have been playing one-two with each other for 28 years, and in the Bundesliga since 1995. They have been running a model sports sponsorship partnership for more than a quarter of a century. Telekom has invested more than 80 million euros in the construction and maintenance of the Bonn sports location and made the baskets an evergreen in the basketball league (BBL).
But because dream marriages sometimes turn into alliances of convenience, the Bonn basketball players have to look for a new name and main sponsor for the next season. Until 2025, Telekom will remain a relevant sponsor with an annual seven-figure sum, but the golden days of the purple jersey will soon be over. Without an adequate replacement, the baskets would lose a quarter of their total sales (almost six million euros). The pure team budget is around 3.5 million euros.
The Bonners don’t have much time to find a replacement. So it is a good thing that they are playing their best season in a long time. On Sunday they will travel to Munich as leaders of the table for the top game. Between corona and financial imponderables on the one hand and the surprising sporting success under the new Finnish coach Tuomas Iisalo on the other hand, Bonn is experiencing the most disturbing season in a long time.
The Telekom Baskets finally have title chances in the BBL again
Last season only thirteenth and penultimate only fifteenth, the last playoff participation so far was almost three years ago (quarter-final against Oldenburg). The Baskets have lost the final series of the German championship five times – the last time in 2009. They lost the cup final three times – the last time in 2012. For ten years they have not been in a final because they had to finance their squad in such a way that they have now been able to pay two thirds of their arena on the side. Bonn has already been eliminated from this year’s cup competition, but a lot seems to be possible in the league.
The key transfer last summer was coach Iisalo, 39, who came with his brother and assistant Joonas Iisalo from league competitor Merlins Crailsheim and put together a very well-functioning squad in Bonn. The American Parker Jackson-Cartwright, brought out of the French second division, is the fifth best scorer and best assists in the Bundesliga.
His compatriot Jeremy Morgan, signed from the Italian premier league, has also achieved good values. “There is quite a unity in the field, there has been meticulous work and research in the summer,” praised Baskets President Wolfgang Wiedlich. “We are one of the surprise teams of the season.” That is good for them after the Bonn team had disappeared a bit from the field of vision in recent years.
Four other clubs are looking for a new title sponsor in the BBL
The fact that the majority of the loyal audience has to be locked out for the home games that are finally more attractive again hurts the president. “Under normal circumstances we would now have full ranks,” says Wiedlich. Last Sunday, when not a single spectator was allowed to enter the dome, it promptly set the first home defeat against Hamburg. The mood in the empty hall?
“Freezer!” Says Wiedlich. At least Bonn retained the lead in the table. “Our success means a little balm for the soul, but unfortunately we can’t suck honey out of it.” Everything could be better enjoyed in full halls with plenty of income.
And so basketball in Bonn has to rely on what it was diagnosed in a league study a few years ago in the corona-related consolation of its regular customers as well as in the search for a new title sponsor: that the Baskets Bonn was one of the few real ones Traditional brands of German basketball are. Telekom took up this argument when it announced its withdrawal: “The Baskets, as one of the great traditional clubs in German basketball, are certainly a highly attractive commitment for other companies,” said Michael Hagspihl, who is responsible for marketing partnerships. Wiedlich is currently thoroughly examining this thesis.
While he is watching intently how long his baskets will be able to defend the championship lead, he is holding initial talks with potential sponsors. There are interested parties from the region. The matter is much more difficult nationwide. And not just for Bonn. S.Oliver Würzburg, medi Bayreuth, Löwen Braunschweig and Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt, i.e. four other clubs, are looking for a new title sponsor in the BBL.
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