PUMA today announced that it has entered a new partnership with the German Bundesliga Champions, Borussia Dortmund. Effective from the 1st July 2012, this new technical partnership will see PUMA provide official playing kits for all associated Borussia Dortmund teams, including the senior mens and all youth teams, as well as becoming the club’s official partner in relation to replica kits, fanwear and other merchandise.
PUMA will provide playing kits for Borussia Dortmund for the 2012/13 season and for multiple seasons to follow. A full range of replica kits, fanwear and merchandise will also be launched at this time. As part of PUMA’s commitment to the partnership, the global Sportlifestyle brand is providing football boots for players of all levels within the Borussia Dortmund club who don’t have existing boot contracts, this part of the contract is already in effect for the 2011/12 season, as is the individual shoe contract with Borussia Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp which was announced at the beginning of the current 2011/12 season.
Franz Koch, Chief Executive Officer at PUMA SE commented: “We are really excited about this new addition to our football portfolio. Borussia Dortmund perfectly embodies the mix of sport and lifestyle, an ethos we share at PUMA. The brand values emphasised by both companies of joy, enthusiasm and passion make this partnership a perfect match. Our association with Borussia Dortmund will allow us to further expand our position as the clear number three football brand.”
Matthias Bäumer, General Manager at PUMA Germany says: “We are very pleased to be able to strengthen our portfolio with such a long-standing and successful Bundesliga club as Borussia Dortmund. The enthusiasm of this club and its unique fans will not only allow us to leave our mark in the field of Teamsports and merchandising, but provide our retail partners with innovative football product and marketing concepts.”
Hans-Joachim Watzke, Borussia Dortmund Club President said: “Borussia Dortmund is thrilled to enter this new partnership with PUMA. We share a great synergy with PUMA, we both have brand values that extend beyond simply performance on the pitch, and our work together in coming seasons will reflect this. From our very early conversations with PUMA it was abundantly clear that they wished to make Borussia Dortmund fans integral to the brand’s football campaigns in Germany, to value them as we do. This marketing focus was a key reason for us signing a partnership with PUMA, and we are excited about the prospect of implementing these plans for the 2012/13 season and beyond.”
Borussia Dortmund will become the third current Bundesliga club to partner with PUMA, joining VfB Stuttgart and TSG Hoffenheim in the global Sportlifestyle brand’s football family. PUMA also partners with numerous club teams such as Girondins Bordeaux, AS Monaco, Feyenoord Rotterdam, Tottenham Hotspur, SS Lazio and Olympiakos Piräus as well as international teams including Italy, Czech Republic, Switzerland, South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Chile and Uruguay. Borussia Dortmund will also join a host of international player assets that have joined PUMA in recent months including Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero, Ramadel Falcao and Cesc Fabregas.
