- Existing contract, reportedly worth up to €150m, included option for Gazprom to terminate deal if Schalke are relegated
- New three-year agreement ensures energy company’s logo will remain on club’s shirts until at least 2025
- Gazprom first partnered with Schalke in 2006
Russian energy giant Gazprom has extended its shirt sponsorship deal with Schalke 04, despite the club facing relegation from German soccer’s top flight.
Gazprom’s existing deal with Schalke, which was signed in 2016, is due to run until the end of the 2021/22 season and includes an option to cancel the contract if the team goes down, but the new agreement ensures the company’s branding will remain on the front of the team’s playing shirts until at least 2025.
Schalke’s current contract with Gazprom is reportedly worth up to €150 million (US$175.9 million), but Sky Deutschland reports that the new deal will see the company pay around €10 million (US$11.7 million) a season in the likely event that Schalke are relegated. The team currently sit 13 points off FC Köln, who occupy the relegation playoff place.
The Sky Deutschland report adds that Gazprom will increase its annual sponsorship fee should Schalke secure a return to the top flight.
Alexander Jobst, Schalke’s head of marketing, sales and organisation, said: “The contract extension with one of our most important partners Gazprom carries great significance for Schalke 04 and shows trust, especially in difficult times. We are very grateful for that.
“At the same time, through this validation from our main sponsors, we feel the expectation and stimulus to get Schalke 04 back on the path to success on the pitch. We are delighted that Gazprom will stay by our side for the long term.”
Gazprom first partnered with Schalke back in 2006, when the company announced it would be committing €125 million (US$146.6 million) to the club over five years.
Sergey Kupriyanov, the press officer for the chairman of the board of directors at Gazprom, added: “We’ve stood alongside FC Schalke 04 for many years now. A partnership is also characterised by standing together in challenging time. We want to contribute to bringing this unique club back on the path to success.”
