Deutsche Telekom and Bayern Munich extend partnership to 2027

German telecom incumbent Deutsche Telekom and the Bundesliga team with 10 successive titles, FC Bayern Munich, have agreed an extension to their 20-year partnership to 2027.

The German duo have announced that the deal benefits the telecom operator’s brand popularity while it will help drive technological innovation in the game, albeit no details were shared. The announcement states the deal was extended prematurely, alluding to a successful existing partnership over the past 20 years.

For DT, the aim of the partnership is “to continue to excite fans with new services and offerings” while the operator will also gain exclusive content which it is understood it can air on its FC Bayern.tv channel on the MagentaTV subscription platforms. There will also be some digital developments around 5G but the details of those planned were not shared.

The financial details of the deal were not unveiled in the announcement, however, Michael Hagspihl, Senior Vice President at Deutsche Telekom said that the “immense media coverage, innovative power and the associated effects means that [the] partnership is worth several times more than what [the companies] both put into it.”

“We are delighted that Deutsche Telekom has been a partner of FC Bayern for 20 years.” said Oliver Kahn, CEO of FC Bayern and ex-German DFB goalkeeper. “The company stands for innovation in a multi-media world, for creativity, for a forward-thinking attitude. Together we have already written a unique success story. Our objective is to continue setting benchmarks inside and outside of the sporting world and we’ve managed to do so once again by signing this contract extension.”

This is not the first time DT has collaborated with a football club for sponsorship or to highlight its network capabilities. In 2018 MWC Barcelona, the telecom giant live streamed a video call on its LTE network with the then DFB goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on a flight at 35,000 feet showcasing its connectivity for airline passengers across Europe.

The operator is also a regular technological partner to several other German football clubs while offering a range of other sports content on its various streaming services. As such, this announcement comes as a natural extension between the telco and the German football club.

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