The last couple of years has been difficult for all clubs across the globe. The pandemic has made sure that there have been significant financial losses. Bayern Munich was also not spared by the pandemic as games were played behind closed doors for most of the last two years.
Die Roten had announced losses worth €150 million due to the pandemic. The German club had to be cautious about transfers as they could not spend freely due to losses caused by coronavirus. Bayern is not backed by a state or has an oligarch, so they had to offset losses by spending less in the transfer window.
Since fans were not allowed in the stadium for a long time, the matchday revenue was next to nothing in the last two seasons. In such a scenario, the sponsorship deals become even more crucial for clubs such as Bayern. The Bavarian club is reportedly close to renegotiating a new deal with one of their key sponsors.
According to SportBild, Bayern is close to signing a new long-term deal with principal sponsor Telekom. The new deal will expire in 2026, while the valuation will increase by €5 million per year. Die Roten previously earned €45 million/year from this association with Telekom. The new deal will see Die Roten earning €200 million across four years.
Rekordmeister will be hoping to renegotiate deals with other sponsors such as Allianz in the same manner as they did with Telekom. The collective gain from all sponsorship deals will have a big impact on the overall commercial revenue for the club in every financial year.
The report from SportBild also confirms that Oliver Kahn is also expected to hold talks with Qatar Airways since the current deal is set to expire in 2023. The deal with Qatar Airways has brought immense scrutiny to the club since Qatar is accused of severe abuse of human rights.
The Bavarian faithful has consistently protested against the deal with Qatar Airways at various games. The club hierarchy may have to terminate the deal as few senior players have also reportedly raised concerns about this deal.
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Financially, parting ways with Qatar Airways will be a big loss for Die Roten. This deal fetches Die Roten €20 million/year, which is almost ten times more than the previous deal with Lufthansa Airlines. However, the humanitarian point of view is much more crucial in this scenario. Bayern should look to get another airline onboard instead of working with Qatar Airways post-2023. The club’s consistent success and a bigger fanbase than it was a decade ago will definitely help them in negotiating a good deal with other airlines.