Porsche is therefore planning to become the official partner of the club’s junior football section and the football academy through its “Turbo for Talents” programme designed to foster young, up-and-coming sportsmen and women. The “Management- und IT-Beratung MHP” on the other hand shall receive the naming rights for the stadium. The company would also like to become the team and fair play partner of VfB Stuttgart – including in the areas of CSR, women’s football, academy, track and field athletics and eSport.
In addition to the sponsoring packages, VfB and Porsche are discussing a possible shareholding of Porsche in the VfB Stuttgart AG.
“We’re united by a big tradition"
“VfB Stuttgart is the biggest club in the city where we are based. We’re united by a big tradition and we’re both deeply rooted within the region. Jointly with MHP, we want to play our part in shaping a future for VfB that is as successful as possible,” says Lutz Meschke. The Deputy Chairman and Member of the Executive Board Finance and IT at Porsche stresses: “With the wide-ranging sponsoring partnership between the Porsche group and the VfB, we would like to put a long-term commitment into place. In doing so, it is important for us that we are doing it all in collaboration with our colleagues from Mercedes. This means, we are not going there to replace anybody. Our intention is far more to bundle the various forces – from the region and for the region.”
Particularly dear to Meschke’s heart is the fostering of junior footballers. “The excellent work done coaching and supporting the youngsters has made VfB a major force. It will also play a decisive role in the future as to how VfB develops further in professional football. The “Turbo für Talents” programme is about more than just the sporting side of things. Equally important for us is the adolescents’ school education and a set of values that we can give them for their lives on and off the pitch.”
Renaming of the former Gottlieb Daimler Stadium into the MHPArena
For MHP, which is based in nearby Ludwigsburg, a partnership with VfB Stuttgart would be the logical extension of its existing sponsoring activities in the Stuttgart region. Dr Ralf Hofmann, Co-Founder, Shareholder and Chairman of the Board of Management of MHP, speaks of a “regional commitment with national and international reach”. Amongst other things, the “Management- und IT-Beratung”, already gives its name to the MHPArena in Ludwigsburg, the home of the basketball Bundesliga club, MHP Riesen. “With our planned commitment, we again want to take on societal responsibility in our home region. At the same time, the renaming of the former Gottlieb Daimler Stadium into the MHPArena would certainly be a national beacon for our company. It would additionally emotionalise our company and support our growth strategy,” says Hofmann.
“The top employers and world brands Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and MHP together with VfB – it doesn’t come any better. We thus want to put together the biggest package in the history of VfB Stuttgart. Porsche and MHP are fascinating, successful companies with close ties to our region. They enlarge our room for manoeuvre whereby it is clear for everybody involved that VfB is primarily concerned with the economic stabilisation after the corona time which threatened our existence. Investing in strategic fields of action is another prime concern,” says the VfB Chief Executive Officer Alexander Wehrle.
