The first round of the competition introduced consistent presen-tation at all 32 venues – 7.5 kilometres of perimeter advertising

Zug, Switzerland, 6 August 2009 – Infront Sports & Media, the international sports marketing agency which was awarded the central marketing to the DFB Cup (Pokal) just nine months ago, has successfully implemented the first DFB Cup match day of the new season (31 July to 3 August 2009) in a total of 32 stadiums across Germany, introducing new sponsors and a consistent style of presentation for all matches.
The competition now has a centralised marketing structure, with four TOP partners, Bitburger, Deutsche Post, Deutsche Telekom and Jack Wolfskin, who receive exceptional brand exposure at all 63 matches.

31 of the match venues (all Sky matches) were equipped with static advertising boards and one with a rotating advertising system. Infront’s team faced a significant logistical challenge, installing more than 7.5 kilometres of boards all over Germany, including in many of the smaller venues of clubs playing in the 4th – 6th divisions. The rotating system was used at the free TV match – Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. Hamburger SV – at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf.

The first round also introduced an array of newly-designed venue dressing, including on-pitch flash interview walls, backdrops for mixed zones and press conferences (for selected stadiums) as well as cohesive DFB Cup stadium décor for all 32 venues. The combined effect was impressive and delivered a strong and effective platform for the sponsor partners.

This tremendous operational challenge involved Infront’s Sport Services team, with agency support from a long term service partner, the Veto agency, headed by Thomas Weber. In total, the Infront-led logistics team involved 35 people on site during the four days of the competition.

Denni Strich, DFB Marketing Director, commented: “The first DFB Cup round was a huge success not only in sporting terms but also for all commercial partners involved. The centralised and restructured distribution of both, the media and marketing rights as well as the improved venue dressing has lifted the competition to a new level in terms of media coverage, communication potential for top brands and overall visual appearance.”

Rolf Weigel, Infront’s Director Sport Services heading the DFB related operations, said: “The results of the improved marketing concept are very respectable. We have received positive feedback from all parties involved, regarding what is seen as a very smooth start, with no problems on site. The competition is now providing a much increased premium character and a higher value for its sponsors. This is of course our primary task.”

Promising audience figures
The “new” DFB Cup also looks set to beat expectations in terms of television audiences in Germany. Sunday’s highlight programme on ZDF had a cumulative audience up to 4.3 Mio and a market share of 17.4 percent. Monday’s live match Düsseldorf – Hamburger drew 5.15 million viewers, a market share of 19.7% (Source: AGF/GfK-Fernsehforschung). Almost 340,000 spectators followed the 32 matches in the stadiums.

About the DFB Cup
The DFB Cup is an elimination tournament held annually. It is the second most important national title in German football after the Bundesliga championship. Infront has a new central role, handling sponsorship and all stadium advertising rights for all games. Previously, Infront only marketed the eight matches that were covered on television. From 2009 onwards, all 63 games of the competition will be covered live for the first time and all the rights managed from one central source, Infront.

Infront Sports & Media – a renowned player in football
Infront Sports & Media, based in Zug, Switzerland, is an experienced international full service sports marketing company with a capacity for innovation that is helping to transform the industry. These innovations have enhanced every area of sports marketing, including distribution of rights, host broadcast, programme production, event operations, brand development, sponsorship and even online entertainment. Infront has 500 employees across 23 offices in 10 countries.

Infront has an extensive football portfolio. The Group is a partner of top European football leagues, including Italian’s Lega Calcio and the French Football League (Ligue 1) – handling the host broadcast for the first division of the up until 2011/2012 – national football associations including the DFB in Germany and several clubs like SV Werder Bremen, FC Schalke 04, U.S. Città di Palermo and S.S. Lazio Rome. Infront is also best known for working with the sport’s governing bodies. It successfully delivered the global media rights sales and host broadcast of the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup™. Today, Infront is involved in the distribution of the Asian media rights to the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup™ (in a joint venture with Dentsu). The company’s dedicated and highly specialised host broadcast organisation Host Broadcast Services (HBS), is handling the host broadcast of the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup™ and also contributes to UEFA Euro™ events.


For further information, please contact:

Jörg Polzer
Manager, Communication & PR
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel.: +41-41-723 15 15
Fax: +41-41-723 15 16
press@infrontsports.com
www.infrontsports.com