Sports Club Finances: Revenue Revealed

Isernhagen. The municipality of Isernhagen and the sports working group have signed the contract for future sports funding. This confirms how sports enthusiasts in Isernhagen organized in clubs will benefit from public funding in the next few years.

Be it fees or allowances for trainers, energy costs for your own clubhouse, entry fees for competitions, equipment or funds for course maintenance: Even if an incredible amount of voluntary work goes into it, sport in the club costs money.

More than 6000 organized athletes

The municipality of Isernhagen has been supporting local sports clubs financially for years, and the sports association distributes the funds according to a set key. It represents more than 6,000 organized athletes, including around 40 percent young people and children.

The funding contracts were usually concluded for a period of five years. But recently there was an extension of only one year – the responsible department in the town hall lacked the human resources to adequately take care of a new contract.

125,000 euros each for four years

The “transition year” of 2025 is now over, and the local administration and the sports group have used the time to discuss the new regulations. The council has already agreed to the negotiated result. Mayor Tim Mithöfer (CDU) and Sport-AG chairman Karl-Günther Wieneke signed the new contract in the town hall.

This is valid for four years in order to return to the usual five-year rhythm. The sports clubs will each receive 125,000 euros for the years up to 2029, which means an increase of 20,000 euros compared to 2025. In addition, as before, there are 23,300 euros with which the municipality makes rental payments to third parties for sports facilities.

Community keeps an eye on inflation

The mayor spoke of extremely constructive discussions and that an agreement was quickly reached. “We found a very good compromise.” Wieneke was more cautious on behalf of the sports group: “We are basically satisfied with the result. However, the community modified our proposal somewhat in the discussions.”

According to Wieneke, the representatives of the sports clubs would have liked to agree on an increase to compensate for inflation instead of a fixed sum for four years as is now the case. But that didn’t happen. When signing the contract, Mithöfer assured that the community would keep an eye on inflation: “We will not leave the sports clubs out in the cold if we have price jumps of 8 or 9 percent again.”

Money is intended for young members

The Sport-AG will now distribute the 125,000 euros in funding for 2026 among the clubs according to a fixed key. Every club, regardless of its size, receives a basic amount of 450 euros. The rest is distributed among the clubs based on the number of children and young people among the members. Clubs with a low average age, such as the Altwarmbüchen Badminton Club, benefit particularly greatly. “This purpose is the political will. We don’t want to promote competitive sports,” said Mithöfer.

Thanks to the support from the community, the clubs can keep the fees for children and young people low with their popular sports offerings in order to enable everyone to participate, added Wieneke. At Isernhagen’s largest sports club, TuS Altwarmbüchen, for example, which Wieneke leads as chairman, adults pay 192 euros annually, but those under 18 only pay 132 euros. “Every euro is important for sports clubs,” said Wieneke. And at TuS Altwarmbüchen, with an annual budget of around 290,000 euros, sports funding accounts for almost 10 percent.

Clubs can apply for loans

Sports clubs in Isernhagen not only receive annual funding, they can usually also use the community’s sports facilities free of charge. However, this does not apply to the water areas in the indoor swimming pool, for which rental payments are due. Some clubs also have their own sports facilities.

In the past, clubs could also apply for construction cost subsidies at the town hall, but this is no longer possible. Instead, the municipality now grants interest-free loans upon request. “We have increased the volume. Previously there was 50,000 euros per year in the pot, now it is 100,000 euros,” said the mayor.

HAZ