By once again directly qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, the club again has the opportunity to consolidate its standing as one of Europe’s top teams and to once more share in the profits distributed for participating in the lucrative competition.
Borussia Dortmund’s approach to its squad is one of continuity, but it also has an eye to creating new momentum and structures in its personnel choices. Head coach Edin Terzić, whose contract runs until 30 June 2025, has managed to get the team to once again project that “Borussia Dortmund feeling” and play attractive football. The coaching staff is now focussed on making further adjustments in order to successfully build on this momentum. In this endeavour Edin Terzić will continue to enjoy the support of his assistant, Armin Reutershahn, who signed an early contract extension until 30 June 2025 and will share his many years’ of experience in the Bundesliga during his day-to-day work. Sebastian Kehl, who took over as sporting director from Michael Zorc on 1 July 2022, successfully leveraged the experience he gained since the 2018/2019 season as Borussia Dortmund’s Head of the Professional Squad to make his mark in his new role. Sebastian Kehl’s contract (like that of Youth Academy director Lars Ricken) currently runs until June 2025. Sebastian Kehl is assisted by Slaven Stanic, who was appointed Borussia Dortmund’s sports coordinator in May 2023. In this newly created position, Slaven Stanic assists the professional squad in many aspects and acts as a conduit to the sporting management. As a former player and equipped with invaluable experience gained from various roles in professional football, he will leverage his expertise to make Borussia Dortmund even better. This long-term focus at level of sporting management offers Borussia Dortmund a solid basis for planning and gives those in positions of responsibility the opportunity to keep building on the excellent and trusting relationships they already enjoy and to unlock the potential for improvement that is there to see.
Borussia Dortmund finished the past season in second place with 71 points, once again qualifying directly for the UEFA Champions League. Borussia Dortmund kept the title race alive until the very last match day. Compared to the 2021/2022, the team also improved on its performances in the cup competitions this season. The team has enormous potential. It now needs to be tapped over the entire season and across all tournaments. In Germany international Felix Nmecha, Borussia Dortmund signed a fast, technically gifted and physically strong player who will help the team’s midfield both offensively and defensively. Another new signing is Ramy Bensebaini, a highly-experienced full-back who is a Bundesliga veteran and starter for Algeria’s national team and moreover can transition seamlessly between offensive and defensive play. By signing contract extensions with team veterans Marco Reus and Mats Hummels, Borussia Dortmund ensured that the team would continue to benefit from their longstanding experience. After missing a good portion of this past season due to testicular cancer, Sébastien Haller, whose physical presence and finishing ability are ideally suited for his role as a traditional centre forward, has recovered and will be available to Borussia Dortmund from the very start of the next season. The healthy mix of youngsters and veterans in the squad as well as consistency in its management is expected to help the team unlock its full potential and achieve the greatest possible success on the pitch. Borussia Dortmund has an excellent team, a fact that is not lost on other top European clubs. Accordingly, there is always the possibility of lucrative transfers, such as the pending transfer of Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid (see the ad hoc disclosure dated 7 June 2023). The team is expected to collectively make up for the loss of this key player.
Borussia Dortmund sees further potential in its youth setup, where it lays the foundation for its sporting success. To this end, the club has added new offices for the sports management team at the Brackel training ground in recent years. This investment helped to further consolidate all the areas under the direction of the Sports department. Borussia Dortmund hopes the direct proximity to the training ground will help it work with greater efficiency and purpose and further optimise its pipeline of talented youngsters for the senior team.
Belgium U19 international Julien Duranville, another highly talented youngster, celebrated his professional début after returning from injury on the last Bundesliga match day of the 2022/2023 season. Compared to their Bundesliga peers, Borussia Dortmund’s U21 players received the most minutes on the pitch during the 2022/2023 season. Youssoufa Moukoko and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens established themselves as first-team regulars. Ole Pohlmann from the U23 team was signed to the senior team. While Borussia Dortmund strives for continuity in its youth setup, it also drives innovation by rotating the coaching staff of the U16 and U17 teams. Marco Lehmann will take over as head coach for the U17s in the 2023/2024 season, while Karsten Gorges will train the U16 squad. The fact that Germany’s U17 national team won the 2023 European Championship with four players from Borussia Dortmund is also a testament to Borussia Dortmund’s successful youth development. Mike Tullberg, the U19 head coach who with his team has already proven more than capable of developing highly talented players, has a contract that runs until 30 June 2026.
Borussia Dortmund maintains close and longstanding partnerships with its sponsors. Borussia Dortmund and the global sports marketing agency SPORTFIVE Germany GmbH, its marketing partner since 1999, extended their partnership early until 30 June 2031. The collaboration covers all areas of marketing, such as the acquisition of sponsors, the expansion of partnerships and the marketing of the hospitality areas at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. Borussia Dortmund and SPORTFIVE Germany GmbH have set themselves ambitious national and international marketing growth targets for the coming years. In addition to its current focal areas, SPORTFIVE Germany GmbH will also be responsible for marketing women’s football and e-sports. Borussia Dortmund’s international marketing activities in the coming years will focus in particular on expanding its partnerships in the United States, which it has identified as a target market and where the team set off on a summer tour in July/August 2023. The United States is also co-hosting the 2026 Fifa World Cup together with Canada and Mexico. Borussia Dortmund considers SPORTFIVE Germany GmbH to be a strong and reliable partner with a global marketing network and extensive expertise. Borussia Dortmund has entered into medium- and long-term contracts with its strategic partners (SIGNAL IDUNA Group until 2031, PUMA International Sports Marketing B.V. until 2028, and 1&1 Telecommunication SE and Evonik Industries AG, each until 2025), which provides long-term planning security. Borussia Dortmund also extended various other sponsorship relationships and entered into new contracts. Borussia Dortmund assumes that its advertising income will continue to grow in the coming financial year. The club has lost none of its appeal, despite the recent pandemic.
As there were no restrictions on spectators throughout the entire 2022/2023 season, Borussia Dortmund welcomed virtually sell-out crowds to all of its home matches at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK and was not hindered in any way from directly engaging and interacting with its fans Borussia Dortmund makes infrastructure investments in SIGNAL IDUNA PARK in order to further improve its fans’ stadium experience and to better meet the increased logistical requirements. Consequently, we will ensure that our catering services and the associated logistics are state-of-the-art. We are aiming to complete all related construction projects by April 2024 prior to the start of the European Championships. In addition, Borussia Dortmund launched a digitalisation initiative at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK – from the media centre to the video walls – to make the stadium digitally fit for the future and even more accommodating to fans and sponsors alike. After Borussia Dortmund embarked on its 2022 ASIA TOUR from 21 November to 1 December 2022 with selected players from the youth squads as well as members of the senior squad who did not compete at the World Cup, which was being held concurrently in Qatar, the team travelled the US in the summer of 2023 during its “Back in Black & Yellow” tour. The return to North America is key to Borussia Dortmund’s internationalisation strategy as the importance of the market is growing in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup and football is gaining in popularity. The goal of such trips is to bring the club even closer to and connect with its international fan communities and partners and give all fans from around the world the chance to immerse themselves in the world of Borussia Dortmund.