By Konstantin Marrach
Hertha’s search for a new main sponsor continues at full speed.
After the retirement of “Autohero”, the team ran out with bare chests on their jerseys in friendlies. The Berlin sneaker guru Stepan Timoshin, managing director of the company VADITIM, had made the crisis club an offer of 1.5 million euros.
The problem: Hertha reportedly wants a partner who would pay 2.5 to 3 million euros.
Stepan Timoshin now explains on his Instagram channel why he will not increase his offer. The 22-year-old, who says he has 400 employees and makes millions in sales, gives three reasons:
Stepan Timoshin: “First of all, they just got off. Second: They ‘only’ play in the second division. Third, my team did the research for me. On average, second division clubs get 1.2 million euros from their main sponsor.” The entrepreneur emphasizes: “They are definitely not worth two million euros to me.”
Stepan Timoshin is a self-confessed supporter of the capital club. He said to the BZ: “I’ve been a Hertha fan for 12 years, I’ve been going regularly to the Olympic Stadium with my family for ten years and now also with my wife, or I watch the games on TV.”
And further: “I’m a boy from Berlin, and it would be a dream to sponsor Hertha and to help with my company that the club makes it back into the Bundesliga.” Only for a maximum of 1.5 million euros per year.
It is questionable whether Hertha will really find another sponsor who would pay up to 3 million (that’s how much second division HSV gets from HanseMerkur, smaller clubs significantly less). As reported by BZ, the football start-up “trainr.” is considered a promising candidate to succeed the former main sponsor.
Founder and managing director Marc Apfel told BZ: “I can confirm that there are fundamental discussions with the Hertha managers. These are ongoing and confidential negotiations, we are on the right track. We are aiming for main and shirt sponsorship.”
However, it is still completely unclear under what conditions this deal could go ahead …