DFrom the point of view of the Fraport Skyliners, the matter could not be postponed. The basketball Bundesliga club has already paid the fee of 700,000 euros for the wildcard. The Frankfurters could have paid the amount in two tranches of 350,000 euros each, spread over two seasons. “Why carry it around forever? We can start again. And in terms of accounting, it makes no difference,” said managing director Yannick Binas of the FAZ
In the past round, the Skyliners were relegated from the first division for the first time in their club history. Thanks to the expensive wild card – there was only one promoted team in Rostock – the Hessen team is still among the 18 first-division clubs. The Skyliners had raised 350,000 euros in the past few months with the support of existing partners. To settle the other half, the two partners Gunnar Wöbke and Thomas Kunz committed themselves with equity.
Financial risk for the squad
The big goal is to “build up equity again as quickly as possible,” says Binas. Despite the expenses for the wildcard, the total budget for the new round should be about the same as in the previous season. The manager did not give a specific number. “We are working towards getting back to the pre-corona level,” he said. At that time, the total budget was around five million euros.
As far as the current squad composition is concerned, the club “took a bit of a risk. We trust to generate more funds,” said Binas. Main and name sponsor Fraport will apparently stay with the Skyliners for a long time. In October 2021, CEO Stefan Schulte announced that the company would be reducing its financial commitment due to the Corona crisis. “After eleven years we will eventually step into the second row,” he said at the time. When asked, Binas said that Fraport “still has a long-term contract as the main sponsor”.
The Frankfurt team has currently filled five of the six possible foreign positions. In the 113:57 friendly win over the Pro A second division club Trier, the Lithuanian point guard Laurynas Beliauskas was the most successful thrower with 23 points. He was followed by 22-year-old Joshua Obiesie with 18 points. The Guard moved from FC Bayern Munich to Frankfurt.
