Sponsorships
Two new Champion Partners teamed up with Borussia Dortmund at the beginning of the 2019/2020 season: ESET spol. s.r.o. and comdirect bank AG. comdirect bank AG will be the club's official banking partner.
The agreements run until 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023, respectively.
At the start of the 2019/2020 season, Borussia Dortmund also welcomed two new partners, the long-established German manufacturer of coffee products, Melitta Group Management GmbH & Co. KG, and the international cosmetics company, L’Oréal Deutschland GmbH.
In addition to these two new partners, the club also extended two existing partnerships: Coca-Cola European Partners Deutschland GmbH and MBG International Premium Brands GmbH (effect energy drink) renewed their sponsorship agreements and will remain Premium Partners until 2022.
The analogue advertising boards in the upper stands were replaced by the new digital boards at the start of the new season. These new boards give the club more sponsorship opportunities and also reduce the costs associated with preparing the stadium for international matches.
Borussia Dortmund and PUMA International Sports Marketing B.V. extended their partnership through to 30 June 2028. Extending the existing cooperation is a milestone for Borussia Dortmund as it seeks to secure a permanent position among the leading clubs in the Bundesliga and the top 15 in Europe.
Borussia Dortmund will have two different kit sponsors for the 2020/2021 season: The team will wear kits bearing Evonik Industries AG's logo for all international club competitions, friendlies staged abroad and DFB Cup matches. For its Bundesliga matches, the team will wear kits bearing the logo of 1&1 Telecommunication SE.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted sponsoring at the end of the past season. Due to the suspension of match operations, Borussia Dortmund was unable to render all of its advertising services. The loyalty and tremendous willingness to compromise displayed by advertising partners has been particularly felt in these difficult economic times.
Transfer deals
Five players left Borussia Dortmund during the 2019 summer transfer window:
Abdou Diallo moved to Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and Maximilian Philipp now plays for FC Dynamo Moscow. Alexander Isak and Shinji Kagawa also both left Borussia Dortmund and now ply their trade in Spain at Real Sociedad San Sebastián and Real Zaragoza, respectively.
Sebastian Rode permanently moved to Bundesliga rivals Eintracht Frankfurt after spending the second half of the past season on loan there.
Six other players left Borussia Dortmund on loan to other clubs: Jeremy Toljan plays for FC Sassuolo, Ömer Toprak for SV Werder Bremen, Marius Wolf for Hertha BSC Berlin, Sergio Gómez for SD Huesca, Felix Passlack for Fortuna Sittard, and André Schürrle for FC Spartak Moscow. All loan agreements expire at the end of the 2019/2020 season.
Leading up to 30 June 2020, Borussia Dortmund agreed to again loan full-back Jeremy Toljan to U.S. Sassuolo, ranked twelfth in Italy's Serie A. This loan agreement includes a buy option, which will automatically apply once the loan expires if certain conditions are met.
Three players left Borussia Dortmund during the winter transfer window: Julian Weigl transferred to Benfica Lisbon, Paco Alcácer to Villarreal CF, and Jacob Bruun Larsen to Bundesliga rivals TSG Hoffenheim.
Borussia Dortmund decided to not renew its contract with Mario Götze, who will depart the club at the end of the current season.
Achraf Hakimi's loan spell will end on 30 June 2020, at which time he, too, will leave Borussia Dortmund.
Capital expenditure
Borussia Dortmund signed six players during the summer transfer window:
Mats Hummels returned to Dortmund after three years at FC Bayern Munich. Borussia Dortmund also signed three other Bundesliga players: Nico Schulz from TSG Hoffenheim, Thorgan Hazard from Borussia Mönchengladbach and Julian Brandt from Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
BVB exercised the buy option in its loan agreement with FC Barcelona and initially signed centre-forward Paco Alcácer until 2023. The highly-rated youngster Mateu Morey also joined Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer from FC Barcelona.
In January 2020, Borussia Dortmund signed the highly talented Norwegian striker Erling Braut Haaland until 2024. Emre Can also joined Borussia Dortmund, transferring from Juventus Turin and signing a contract until 30 June 2024.
Borussia Dortmund extended the contracts of Łukasz Piszczek and Roman Bürki. While Piszczek signed a one-year extension until 2021, Dortmund's goalkeeper Bürki extended his contract until 30 June 2023.
In June 2020, Borussia Dortmund announced that it had signed Thomas Meunier. The Belgium international leaves French champions Paris Saint-Germain for Dortmund, having signed a contract until 2024.
TV marketing
Due to the interruption of the current season on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the income accrued for the first 25 match days was calculated as at 31 March 2020 and the disbursement of funds was subsequently recalculated. This led to a decrease in income from domestic and international TV marketing. Likewise, the disbursement dates have also been postponed accordingly into the new season.
Since UEFA Champions League matches will be held well into August 2020, the funds for the past season also still need to be calculated and disbursed.
Match operations
Borussia Dortmund continued to be hugely popular in the 2019/2020 season. The club virtually sold out all eight of its Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League home matches open to spectators.
Borussia Dortmund again sold the most season tickets in the Bundesliga, at 55,500.
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Bundesliga suspended match operations for ten weeks from mid-March to mid-May 2020, at which point a strict hygiene concept was put in place and the season was played out behind closed doors.
Other
Borussia Dortmund was the first club in the Bundesliga and the second in Europe to release its own documentary, Inside Borussia Dortmund. This four-part production was initially released via streaming service Amazon Prime Video before being serialised by public broadcaster WDR. The series gives fans around the world a unique look behind the scenes at Borussia Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund invested in new flood lights to ensure that club is in line with the DFL's standards and that it meets UEFA's requirements for the 2024 European Championship.
Borussia Dortmund's third Sustainability Report was published on 31 October 2019 and can be accessed online at http://verantwortung.bvb.de/2019/en/home-en/. *
In these turbulent times, Borussia Dortmund remains committed to continuity and extended the contract with its sporting director Michael Zorc early by a further year until 30 June 2022.
* The content accessible via the link does not constitute part of this Group management report. In accordance with the statutory requirements, KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft has neither audited the cross-references nor the information to which the cross-references refer.