Stuttgart, 25.06.2015 – At a joint press conference on Thursday morning, the Stuttgarter Kickers gave the starting signal to the partnership with the new main and jersey sponsor MHP – A Porsche Company – as well as announcing that Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG will be the strategic youth partner. The cooperation with MHP and the sports car producer will initially run over a period of three years up to June 30th, 2018.
"We are delighted to have MHP at our side as an ambitious partner with great enthusiasm for sport, and which has already proven its competence in top-level sports at other clubs", said Kickers President Prof. Dr. Rainer Lorz. MHP is among the global consultancy leaders as a process supplier with its consulting approach of the symbiosis of management and IT consulting in addition to being an automotive expert. The ultimate goal of this sponsorship is to create a "win-win situation" for both sides with the aim of increasing MHP's regional and national prominence. In addition, the partnerships in team sport have the purpose of further expanding the image of being a very successful consultancy firm and an excellent team player.
"Because of our regional responsibility to the main MHP location in the region of Stuttgart/Ludwigsburg and in order to further increase awareness of our company as a very successful consulting company and team player, in addition to our sport sponsorship commitment in basketball (MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg) and handball (SG BBM Bietigheim) – the home teams of the MHPArena – in future we will also show our commitment to soccer, the Number One sport. Together with our parent company, Porsche AG, we are pleased that we will provide sustainable support and further development to the professionals and young players in the Stuttgarter Kickers. With the goal of together being a successful team!", responded Dr. Ralf Hofmann, founder and CEO of MHP. In addition to its logo on the jersey, MHP will be present on match days with (TV) advertising boards in the GAZi stadium on the Waldau. Furthermore, the sponsorship package includes additional presentation opportunities in print and online media, campaigns with the team as well as selected ticket campaigns.
"The jersey sponsorship of our subsidiary MHP for the professionals is the perfect complement to the upcoming development that we, as Porsche AG, shall provide for the Kickers in the future", added Lutz Meschke, Member of the Executive Board for Finances and IT at Porsche AG and Chairman of the Advisory Board at MHP. He is pleased about the cooperation, "because we are convince that the Stuttgarter Kickers are on the right path with their far-sighted and professional work both with the professionals and with the upcoming generation. With our commitment, we want to support the club management in further expanding the successful work of past years in order to achieve the set targets. With this new partnership we are additionally emphasizing our role as a sponsor to the upcoming sport generation, which is already testified by our existing cooperations with
RB Leipzig, the Porsche Basketball Academy in Ludwigsburg as well as the Bietigheim Steelers in ice hockey."
In November 2014 the Stuttgarter Kickers and Porsche AG announced that the sports car producer will support the Kickers youth section and will also, for instance, provide the name for the soccer academy. Furthermore, a number of additional measures are planned in accordance with the principle "Turbo for Talents" in order to strengthen the youth section work at the Kickers. Not least with the aim of achieving certification from the German Soccer Association for the training center for the upcoming generation.
As part of this cooperation, Porsche will also give it name to the soccer camp and soccer school, and will provide a Porsche Macan to enable the youth trainer of the Stuttgarter Kickers to drive to partner clubs and offer training courses there, and also for transportation of the appropriate equipment. In the pipeline are also awards for players who have shown outstanding sport achievement or who have demonstrated their very special social conduct in the group. Planning for the GAZi stadium not only envisages usage of classic means of communication such as perimeter advertisement boards and video spots on the stadium screen, but also a Porsche Fan Bank to give an experience unforgettable to the Kickers fans on match days.
