Brose Baskets: a different kind of new year reception 2016

Brose baskets are not only going from success to success on court at the Brose ARENA, but also made headlines at the New Year Reception three days after their historical win against Kaunas: After ten years as Brose Baskets, the club is to be renamed Brose Bamberg effective August 1, 2016 – without doubt a win-win situation for the basketball club and the name sponsor.

The 400 guests from sport, politics and business that had been invited by the Business Club were taken completely by surprise by the announcement, which was met with big applause after the plaque with the club’s new name was unveiled.

That welcome was also accorded to the unusual starting five (without Zisis, Wanamaker and co., but instead with Beyer, Sieben, Dr. Schick, Kalb and Starke), who entered accompanied by gun salvos, cheerleaders and “Freaky” to take part in a talk moderated by the stadium announcer Matthias Steger. Not only President Norbert Sieben, but also District Administrator Johann Kalb and Mayor Andreas Starke were deeply impressed by how the club won the 2015 German championship and in particular how the team has come along since then. Archbishop Dr. Ludwig Schick assessed this excellent start to the new year as meaning the club was halfway to achieving its next successes and spoke about the heavenly basketball pleasures awaiting souls in paradise.

And that is where Rolf Beyer has probably felt he has been in the past months. He has coped magnificently with his whole host of tasks in his first year since the big break with the past. Before summing up the club’s sporting achievements, the Managing Director stressed that the money was well invested and that Sport Director Daniele Baiesi was the architect of the team that was playing together excellently. “The key to success is sticking together, the chemistry in the team.” However, the “man at the helm” is not completely satisfied with the fan culture existing between the old-established and active block.

“We have to take the next step and establish basketball as a brand in the region. The heart of German basketball beats in Germany,” was the rallying call of Rolf Beyer and then just a few minutes later came the announcement: Brose Bamberg! “Basketball is now far more than a sport in Bamberg and the city more than just a place with a league club. Tradition, passion and outstanding successes have engendered close identification with basketball and the club.”

Michael Stoschek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, conveyed his thoughts: “There are now lots of teams called ‘Baskets.’ We have given ourselves a clear profile by focusing on the main sponsor Brose and the city. The city and the club benefit from each other and we aim to underscore that with the new name. Brose helps inspire a passion for basketball in the entire region.” Not only Mayor Starke was delighted at the “great gift” – he also noted that it was a “strong signal for the region” and had made the wish of many fans come true.