The Infront Sports & Media agency has struck a long-term deal to become the exclusive marketing partner of FC Köln after the football club gained promotion back to the German Bundesliga top division.
The deal will run for at least 12 years, from 2014-15 until 2025-26.
The agreement covers the complete marketing rights of the club, including the main and equipment sponsorship package, stadium naming rights and stadium advertising, as well as hospitality services.
In addition, Infront will deploy a team to Cologne in order to support the marketing operations.
Infront has replaced the IMG agency in the role.
Alexander Wehrle, the club’s managing director, said: “We made the decision about our future marketing partner following a detailed market analysis. Amongst several offers, Infront clearly presented the best overall package – providing extensive planning reliability for future marketing revenues and putting us in a stronger position than would have been possible through a potential in-house marketing.”