THE LATEST in a long line of renewable and solar energy companies sponsoring German football properties, JinkoSolar has agreed a three-year deal with the German national football team.
The Chinese-based brand, the first to sponsor any German national team, has become an official second-tier partner in a deal valued by Frontiers at around €1.5m-€2m per year.
The sponsorship deal, brokered by Infront Sports and Media, will see the solar energy company receive banner advertising rights at all home games for the national team, selected away matches and a presence in the Deutscher Fussball-Bund’s (DfB) publications.
The partnership with the national team represents JinkoSolar’s second foray into German football after announcing a three-year sponsorship agreement with Bayer Leverkusen in July. Leverkusen recently signed a principal partnership deal with another renewable energy company which will see US-based SunPower Corporation badge the front of Bayer’s playing shirts for the next three years. Frontiers values the agreement at around $25m.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, a host of other top-flight teams announced multi-year partnerships with renewable energy companies earlier this year, including 1889 Hoffenheim and Suntech Power ($18.3m); Borussia Dortmund and Q-Cells ($13m) and Bayern Munich and Yingli Green Energy ($4.5m).
For more information and analysis of sponsorship in the solar energy sector see this month’s edition of the Sports Marketing Frontiers newsletter.