One of Germany's most successful football clubs, Borussia Dortmund is based in the industrial Ruhr region and prides itself on retaining its working-class roots, community involvement and anti-establishment spirit.
So, a week before one of the biggest matches in the club's history, some Dortmund fans are outraged by the club's sponsorship deal with Rheinmetall, a major German arms manufacturer. Everyone from club officials to lawmakers have spoken out about the move, which has sparked a debate about the normalization of the military in German society. Still, many fans just want to focus on Saturday's Champions League final against Real Madrid, the highlight of the European season.
The three-year partnership between Dortmund and Rheinmetall, announced on Wednesday, includes advertising and marketing rights at Dortmund's stadium and club grounds but does not include a key consideration for some – the right to have their logos on the team's famous black-and-yellow uniforms. Neither party disclosed the value of the deal.
Generations of Germans, raised after the war on the idea that their country should “never again” foment armed conflict, remain uneasy about ties to the defense industry. Unlike in the United States, where professional and collegiate sports games feature uniformed soldiers waving flags and fighter jets flying overhead, overt displays of patriotism and military affiliation are rare at German sporting events.
Some fans want to keep it that way.
“Borussia Dortmund is a football club that stands as a flagship for tolerance and philanthropy,” said Inge Falle, a former teacher from Dortmund who has been a fan of the club since she was a child. “Sponsorship with an arms manufacturer doesn't work,” she said.
Dortmund Chief Executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said in a statement that the club was “consciously entering into a dialogue” by teaming up with the arms manufacturer, which he said reflected the role that companies like Rheinmetall have played in German society since Germany stepped up to help Ukraine after Russian aggression.
“Security and defense are fundamental cornerstones of our democracy,” Watzke said. “Especially today, we see every day that freedoms in Europe have to be defended. We have to deal with this new normal.”
German Economy Minister Robert Harbeck also defended the aid this week, noting that it reflects the geopolitical realities Europe now faces. Germany has given Ukraine about $30 billion in military aid, including munitions, tanks and other materials made by Rheinmetall.
“It's unusual for Rheinmetall to sponsor a football club, but this shows where we are,” Habeck said.
Rheinmetall's business has soared since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Shares in the company, which makes the Leopard tanks that Germany and some NATO allies have sent to Ukraine, have risen sixfold in the past three years.
Rheinmetall Chief Executive Armin Papelger said the company expects to receive about a third of the 100 billion euros ($109 billion) pledged by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to revitalize Germany's military over the next few years.
Dortmund's fortunes are also on the rise thanks to their performance in the Champions League. Like other German teams, the club is run by its own board but the club, the only one in the top flight whose shares are traded on the stock exchange, has revised its financial forecasts upwards twice this year. It now expects net profit to reach 50 million euros, almost double the target it had at the start of the season. According to Deloitte, Dortmund is the second-highest-revenue club in Germany after Bayern Munich.
Asked about the sponsorship deal, Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said they wanted to focus on Saturday's match.
Fans play a major role in German football and are known to take to the streets in protest against decisions they feel are overly commercial or damaging to the sport.
The backlash came after the league was forced earlier this year to abandon negotiations with private equity firms over a deal that would have given the teams a $1 billion cash infusion in exchange for a cut of broadcast revenues. Dortmund's Watzke is chairman of the league's supervisory board.
Dortmund's fan relations chiefs issued a terse statement saying they were focused on the Champions League final, but acknowledged that management had discussed the deal with them in advance and that they were against it.
“It is not always possible to reach an agreement in these dialogues,” they said. “That was the case here.”
Anna Neumann, who is involved in local politics in North Rhine-Westphalia and will be cheering for Dortmund on Saturday, said several teams in England's Premier League are sponsored by gambling companies or by companies with ties to a country that has been criticized by German human rights groups.
“Rheinmetall is helping the Ukrainian people defend their freedom and their right to self-determination,” Neumann said. “We've heard from friends and associates that this is not such a bad deal, and the debate around it is not such a bad deal.”