Deutsche Telekom and FC Bayern Munich announce strategic partnership
Development of the global "T" brands in the foreground - Innovative mobile and online services for soccer fans - Every Bayern goal via cell phone Deutsche Telekom and FC Bayern Munich will commence a strategic partnership starting in the second half of this year. The focus of the partnership for Deutsche Telekom is the development of the global "T" brands. In the beginning, this will primarily be T-Mobile , the future brand name for global mobile telephony services. The contract starts at the commencement of the new season, on July 1, 2002, and will run for 6 years until June 30, 2008. "The growth potential of a company lies mainly in its products and its popularity. For an internationally expanding corporation, the creation of a strong, internationally known brand name is a key success factor," emphasized Dr. Ron Sommer, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, in Munich on Thursday. "Right now, FC Bayern Munich is one of the most exciting and most attractive communication and sponsoring platforms in the German and European markets."
"Deutsche Telekom AG is our dream partner, and we will be implementing an incredibly large number of collaborations and synergies with them. We are very pleased that we were able to cement this partnership", said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Chairman of FC Bayern Munich AG.
As part of the partnership, the "T" brands will also appear on the relevant FC Bayern advertising spaces. And Bayern fans will soon be able to choose from a wide range of T products, such as cell phones with a Bayern design. Much farther-reaching collaborations than mere sponsoring are also planned. The rapidly growing possibilities of modern telecommunications and consumer interest in sport-related - and especially soccer-related - information and entertainment services will be explored in innovative new offers. "You will soon be able to watch Bayern games, press conferences, or interviews with the players on web TV in the Internet. Our fast T-DSL technology already gives 2.3 million customers high-speed access to the web, and the numbers are increasing rapidly. This paves the way for new online offers like the ones we have realized with Bayern Munich", explained Sommer.
Moreover, it will be possible in future to order tickets for Bayern games via cell phone, and pay for them online. So-called location-based services - mobile services based on the customer's current location " will show fans the fastest way to the stadium, the next vacant parking lot, the next subway station, or even to their seats in the stadium. The intelligence of T-Mobile's mobile network will make all this and more possible. Another future hot topic is UMTS. The next generation of mobile telephony will introduce true mobile multimedia communication. Within a few years, soccer fans on business trips or on vacation will never have to miss a Bayern goal again, and will be able to watch their team in the German championships or in the Champions League on the displays of their UMTS cell phones by T-Mobile.
The partnership with Bayern Munich is a perfect fit with Deutsche Telekom's other sporting engagements. Deutsche Telekom has been a sponsor of the juniors- team of the German Soccer Association for years. Deutsche Telekom is an Official Sponsor of the Soccer World Cup and a main partner with FIFA, the global soccer association. Deutsche Telekom is also involved with sports other than soccer: The Telekom Baskets are one of Germany's best basketball teams, and have significantly contributed to increasing the popularity of this sport in Germany. And of course, the Telekom name is known far beyond Germany's borders thanks to our commitment to bicycle racing. Team Telekom has notched up numerous victories at the Tour de France and in many other countries over the last few years.