11 November 2023, Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart: Soccer: Bundesliga, VfB Stuttgart – Borussia Dortmund, Matchday 11, MHPArena. Borussia Dortmund fans stand in the fan block. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa – IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL German Football League and the DFB German Football Association, it is prohibited to utilize or have utilized photographs taken in the stadium and/or of the match in the form of sequential images and/or video-like photo series. (Photo by Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Borussia Dortmund has signed a new sponsorship deal with German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and will display the defense company's logo ahead of facing Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Dortmund said Wednesday the three-year deal with Rheinmetall includes “wide-reaching advertising space, marketing rights and event and hospitality arrangements in the stadium and on the club grounds" starting from this week's buildup for the Champions League final Saturday.
Rheinmetall is building a new plant in northern Germany to produce around 200,000 artillery shells per year as part of European efforts to increase weapons production against the backdrop of Russia's war in Ukraine.
“Security and defense are fundamental cornerstones of our democracy. That is why we believe it is the right decision to take a very close look at how we protect these cornerstones,” Dortmund chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke said in a statement. “Especially today, when we see every day how freedom must be defended in Europe. We should deal with this new normality.”
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