How does the German League do it?

[NextLevel]

Just watched the TTBL match:

TSV Bad Königshofen - Borussia Düsseldorf (TTBL, 2023/24)​

and was looking at how loud the fans were at the end of the match and in between points and cheering for their players. How does the German League get so many people enthusiastic about live table tennis? What is their secret?

 

[piligrim]

I think in France same

 

[\_Kairos_/]

Just watched the TTBL match:

TSV Bad Königshofen - Borussia Düsseldorf (TTBL, 2023/24)​

and was looking at how loud the fans were at the end of the match and in between points and cheering for their players.

Honestly it was more intense at the venues during the 80s and 90s (during the 70s probably, too, but I wasn't yet around then). Then it went "downhill" for a variety of reasons, although there are still places here and there (particularly in the south) where the atmosphere is still similar to what it used to be.

What is their secret?

Short answer: Tradition.

 

[Reaper]

Also, borussia has Timo Boll, which is Germany's greatest

 

[Aizen]

More Opportunity to play -> more recreational players -> more fans / audience

Of course it’s more complicated than that why a sport is popular or has audience, like main stream sports, commercials, broadcasting, cooperations, side-events, celebrities, other investments etc.
But core audience are other (recreational/hobby) players.

 

[\_Kairos_/]

Also, borussia has Timo Boll, which is Germany's greatest

Other clubs don't have a Boll and their atmosphere at home is better than Düsseldorf's...
That being said, Düsseldorf has been a top club for a few decades. They had very good players back then, too, and, as I mentioned, the atmosphere was more intense back then. Boll only plays a very minor role in the big picture (the one Next Level is asking for).

 

[zeio]

And Kallberg didn't disappoint, whereas Ueda delivered again...

 

[Airoc]

Bad Königshofen has reached the playoff stage for the very first time, that probably adds to the enthusiasm of the home crowd.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

its a club culture
community gets together to support the local club.
players could be bought in, but the fans are still mostly local.
The same logic with soccer basically.

Germany has 10s of thousands of clubs, so it is no stranger than every table tennis player is part of some club.
But they would still come into the higher leagues to support "their" (second or third) team (above they own club, if it is in lower div only).

The way the club functions, involves family a lot.
ie, the mom's/wifes are also involved one way or another.
Over time, it becomes part of tradition/life

Whereas, comparison to USA for example - its like the men's outing only - no family.
In Asia, it is the same too, very little family or spouse. Mostly men.
Europe is the only one successful here.

South Africa follows European culture in a way. But to a much smaller scale.
Here is a club I support and the "moms" help with this during a "league night"

Still a lot needs to be done, but these things are common in many European/German clubs

I can't remember which club, I think it is a French - they even have a place to party/bar in the venue.
it's more than sports basically, its social too
I recall that video I saw was after a league night, all the players, fans stayed on for finger snacks at the bar

 

[Dominikk85]

Just watched the TTBL match:

TSV Bad Königshofen - Borussia Düsseldorf (TTBL, 2023/24)​

and was looking at how loud the fans were at the end of the match and in between points and cheering for their players. How does the German League get so many people enthusiastic about live table tennis? What is their secret?

Is it that a lot? I think the bundesliga has a few hundred spectators on average, Borussia is probably towards the higher end.

Found this.

Tischtennis Bundesliga - TTBL - Zuschauer

Alle Informationen und Hintergrundberichte zur besten Liga Europas.

www.ttbl.de

Düsseldorf averages around 1000 people but the lower Clubs only 200-400.

I do not quite understand how the bundesliga works financially. There is streaming but no TV deal for the bundesliga and a few hundred fans. I read players make like 50-150k per year depending on their status.

Is that profitable for the clubs?

 

[\_Kairos_/]

I do not quite understand how the bundesliga works financially. There is streaming but no TV deal for the bundesliga and a few hundred fans. I read players make like 50-150k per year depending on their status.

Is that profitable for the clubs?

That's why most of the clubs, particularly the smaller ones like Bad Königshofen need a whole bunch a sponsors. Membership fees alone cannot pay for the salarys of these pro-players; and the virtuell non-existence of money made from tv/streaming deals adds to the (financial) difficulties.
Every TTBL needs (to buy) a licence, but they also have to show that they are financially able to get through a whole season.
Let's assume that the average TTBL team needs 500.000 € in order to get through the season (I do not know the real numbers, mind you!). I doubt that you'll get players like Ovtcharov, Källberg, Franziska (plus 2-3 other players for your team) for money like that. That wouldn't be enough. But perhaps decent players like Duda, Jha and the likes.
So, as an example, the top player makes 150.000 €, two others 100.000 € each and a development player (or a former top player close to retirement or whatever) gets 50.000 €. That makes 400.000 € salary for the players: the remaining 100.000 € are for: the salary of the coach (possibly also a fitness coach), travel expenses and (occasionally) smaller things like, i. e. equipment (tables, balls etc.). That's your budget. I find it unlikely that a "small" TTBL club makes profit that way. If it roughly evens out at zero at the and of the season/year, that should be satisfying...and then it starts all over again, because for these clubs it's vital to keep the sponsors on board and/or find new ones.

Since Bad Königshofen was mentioned here a few times, just take a look at their website. It's sort of representative for the average sports club in Germany (more on that later...). There is also a list of the sponsors:

https://tsvbadkoenigshofen.de/sponsoren/

That's 44 sponsors currently, if I counted correctly. There are 4-5 local banks, some car dealerships and a variety of other local companys (some smaller, some "Mittelstandsunternehmen" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelstand) as well I suppose). Now, if every one of them sponsors the club with 1000 € monthly on average, that makes 528.000 € a year, which barely covers your budget for your TTBL team, considering the numbers we're talking about.

 

[backspacer]

The manager from the 1. Bundesliga women's team in Weinheim said they have 100000€ for a year (or season, I would have to look it up) and he himself does the job for free just like the people helping out with catering. Berlin, the top club in the women's game, has double the budget he said. It wouldn't be possible without a ton of sponsors. You can see them on the website and there are a lot. I do watch every home match and most viewers are pretty old, not a lot of younger people. About 120 viewers for most matches and when Berlin comes it's around 300. A ticket costs 8€ or 50€ for the whole season including play-offs and 3. Bundesliga women and Regionalliga men.

 

[\_Kairos_/]

As I mentioned, Bad Königshofen is sort of representitive for an average sports club in Germany.
Clubs itself, and the culture associated with it, are deeply rooted within the german society. Whether they are sports clubs, stamp collector clubs, oldtimer clubs, local history clubs, old train clubs, Schützenvereine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schützenverein; http://www.schuetzenverein-niederaden.de/ ) etc.

In the US you have High School and Varsity sports (where you compete against each other and these schools oftentimes have their own long lasting traditions), that is basically non-existent in Germany. You do have psycical education at school and many colleges/universities have at least some sort of a sports club, but they are not really competing against each other; the college sports clubs are predominantly purely recreational.
If you want to do sports somewhat competetively, you need to become a member of a sports club.

Many of these clubs were founded in the 1800s (Bad Königshofen in 1861, same year as the main sports club in the town I grew up in; the oldest sports club In Germany was founded in 1814). Of course back then the "portfolio" of the available types of sports was very limited. Mostly only gymnastics and/or physical education was offered. Later other sports were added, such as soccer, volleyball, handball, tennis, weigthlifting, badminton, chess etc.

These clubs you can find all over Germany. There are some one-sport-clubs, but most of them are multisport-clubs. While you can find more clubs in bigger cities, sports clubs in particular, as well as "Schützenvereine" and voluntary fire departments play a key and vital role in peoples's every day life in smaller towns and more rural regions. If your parents are members of the local sports club, then you are very likely to become a member of that club as well. Many of these clubs have youth/junior departments and they pay attention to coaching the kids. But aside from all the sports, these clubs serve a social purpose, pretty much the way it is described here:

its a club culture
community gets together to support the local club.
players could be bought in, but the fans are still mostly local.
...
The way the club functions, involves family a lot.
...
Over time, it becomes part of tradition/life
...
it's more than sports basically, its social too
I recall that video I saw was after a league night, all the players, fans stayed on for finger snacks at the bar

Oftentimes you would just meet up at the club house, play cards, drink and barbacue together, watching tv and so on and so forth (mainly so forth...).
In other words: You simply grow up with it from an early age on and there is usually are very strong identification with the club, which also results in the atmosphere OP witnessed and admired(?) while watching Bad Königshofen vs. Düsseldorf. The members are proud of their club and the players need to be cheered on because they represent the club and the region; needless to say, most of the players are also role models for the kids in the club.
What also helps tt being a fairly popular sport in Germany is what is mentioned here:

More Opportunity to play -> more recreational players -> more fans / audience

You will find stone tables in parks, school yards, lidos, playgrounds. Also, most youth clubs/centres have tt tables. The one in my home town had two and they were quite popular; even some younger adults in their 20s would sneak in in order to play. My old "middle school" had like 7 or 8 pretty usable tt tables in the auditorium and we would play tt during almost every school break.

Table tennis being kind of "omnipresent", because it is readily available in nearby places, and the strong club culture which is deeply rooted within the german society is imo the main "secret" NextLevel was asking about.

 

[karupinkun]

Clubs get a substantial amount of money from the state.
This is used to pay pro players, club equipment, coaches, etc.
Sometimes members of the club don't even have to pay a fee to train or play lower leagues during weekends.

The sponsors I don't know how much money they get from them....probably not much if any at all.

The venues they use are also from the state so they don't pay for that. These venues are top quality and are used for all sports.

This is the big difference between strong EU leagues and other countries included USA and UK.
Sounds nice but I don't know how Americans would react if they take 42% of their salary in taxes like they do in Germany

I believe most tax payers would be pretty annoyed if they realized their taxes are paying Anton Kallberg, Timo Boll, Gionis Panagiotis, Felix Lebrun salaries (just to name a few popular players).

To put it bluntly, you are totally wrong with most of your statement. The German state or the federal states do not pay the professional players in the German Table Tennis League. Some German national players are employed by the Bundeswehr or perhaps the police and can play their sport there as professionals, but that has nothing to do with the majority of Bundesliga players.

You may be right that the cities provide training areas and halls for the clubs, but even that has nothing to do with the wage costs of the professionals.

The professionals are mainly financed by sponsors or table tennis equipment suppliers

 

[\_Kairos_/]

Clubs get a substantial amount of money from the state.
This is used to pay pro players, club equipment, coaches, etc.
Sometimes members of the club don't even have to pay a fee to train or play lower leagues during weekends.

The sponsors I don't know how much money they get from them....probably not much if any at all.

The venues they use are also from the state so they don't pay for that. These venues are top quality and are used for all sports.

This is the big difference between strong EU leagues and other countries included USA and UK.
Sounds nice but I don't know how Americans would react if they take 42% of their salary in taxes like they do in Germany.

I believe many tax payers would be annoyed if they realized their taxes are paying Anton Kallberg, Timo Boll, Gionis Panagiotis, Felix Lebrun salaries (to name a few).

That's a lot of bullshyt at once. Not quite sure if you're trolling.

Sport clubs including their tt departments do not get money from the state. It's the opposite. While some clubs own their own playing venue (gym), the vast majority of the clubs rent a school gym from the city ot the county for their purposes. Many cities and counties in Germany are in need for money, so they won't give away their gyms for free and they do not throw money out of the window, so that clubs can hire some ping pong players and pay coaches. That's flat out ludicrous to assume.
Here is a little excerpt what a sports club has to pay for the use of the gym (https://www.lokalsportpreis.de/bild...ebuehren_muessen_Sportvereine_zahlen.docx.pdf). It's in german, but I google translated the relevant parts:

"The result: In 60 percent of the municipalities, user fees for sports facilities are an issue. In every third they have already been implemented in the city or municipality.
The reason is the same everywhere: the cash register is empty. ...
And it can also affect the sports clubs. In many places they are intended for use
municipal sports facilities pay fees. ... "The cities want to reduce their budget deficit. It is clear to us that the topic of sports facilities user fees come up in every municipality. ...

And the sports clubs? Some fear for their future.
Using just one third of the hall costs three euros an hour. Hans Heinrich
Lindner, honorary chairman of the Schwerte City Sports Association (SSV) and
Chairman of TV Jahn Rot-Weiß Schwerte does not generally oppose to a usage fee. But he calculates that his club now has to raise an additional amount of 239.25 euros per week– almost 10,000 euros per year. “This really hurts us. Without increases in contributions it would be a threat to our existence.”

Now, part of the membership fees (and fees for being allowed to play local and regional leagues) go to an umbrella association (for example the Bavarian Table Tennis Association) and they as well as the other tt associations finance the national tt association, DTTB. The state is not really involved in this. But clubs do get a bit of money back from the associations eventually in order to buy new equipment or give coaches a small compensation for their efforts to coach for instance. That's the case for pretty much all clubs.

Tax payers do not pay for the salaries of pro players. Sponsors mainly do it. If sponsors were indeed superfluous, as you suggest, the clubs that have pro or semi-pro teams could easily save themselves the hassle to contact sponsors in order to support them.

The government does not pay the players.
The government gives a certain budget to the club.
The club uses this to their convenience.... Pay a good coach for lessons, buy balls, a robot, and a good chunk of this goes to hiring international players to play for them.

Essentially bullshyt - case closed. You are trolling.

 

[zeio]

Clubs in France do get government funding, mostly spent on the payroll of coaches.

Clubs in Germany can get government funding when needed, but are mostly on their own. As Yang Jianhua points out in the second article by Sina below, 15-minute interactive session between players and fans and catering after each match serve as the backbone of the close-knit community formed by the clubs, players and fans.

法国人玩乒乓：一年160欧随便玩儿 联赛多得数不清
http://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2013-05-17/10206572886.shtml

　　一年160欧随便玩儿

　　俱乐部的墙上，有几处贴着蓝色标签，刘芳说，那不是俱乐部的标志，而是巴黎市政府的标志。比照国内的说法，这家俱乐部其实是一处全民健身中心，政府会进行部分的补贴，在法国，这样的全民健身中心随处可见。

　　俱乐部老板马克·依塔克松介绍，在俱乐部注册的成员每年交160欧元(约合1300元人民币)就行，随便来训练，“当然，如果大家一起来地方就不够用了，所以我们是分时间段的。”记者了解到，在会员中分两种，一种是有教练教的，这些多数是孩子，另一种是自己练习，后面这种可以少交一点钱，“我们一年交120欧就行。”70岁的周泰祥是一名华人，他和几个老朋友每周一三五来这里训练，“这几天这里有地方练，其他几天我们去另外的俱乐部打。”

　　马克说，俱乐部不是一个营利机构，在政府的补贴外收取费用多数是为了支付教练的工资，“我们这里有四个教练，包括来自中国的芳。”在附近指导孩子们训练的考斯特·巴夫罗伊主动凑过来说，他是保加利亚人，去年才来到俱乐部，“我跟瓦尔德内尔年龄一样。”

「運動職業化發展計畫」期末報告
https://www.sa.gov.tw/Resource/Other/f1458023920984.pdf

第七節 德國桌球運動聯賽發展

...

 以輔導原則促進運動推廣 (Subsidiarität der Sportförderung)

只有當運動團體組織在財政完全耗竭並主動要求時，聯邦政府才會提供適當
的經濟援助。因為德國政府政策是團體自給自足、獨立生存為原則。

 與其他運動組織成為合作夥伴 (Partnerschaftliche Zusammenarbeit)

...

目前 (2014) 在德國境內已有 91,091 個俱樂部以獨立和自治方式的運動組
織，大約 2 千 7 百萬名會員。大多數德國人認為體育與運動是他們在休閒時間一
個重要的生活元素。運動活動聯繫了社會中人與人的接觸，並也是一個與其他國
家連接的橋樑。

促進競技運動發展是在聯邦政府的責任之內，如聯邦內政部可提供經濟援助
給從事運動訓練教練與提供基本和先進的訓練設施給協會，以及完善的醫療服務
給優秀運動員，並且以具體的政策與措施來提供年輕運動員需要。

乒超需向德乒职业联赛取经 体制壁垒下如何管办分离
http://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2012-04-03/09106008535.shtml
德国乒球职业联赛探营：乒协被架空 普及率不输中国
https://sports.sina.cn/sa/2012-04-03/detail-ikftpnny8273466.d.html

　　架构

　　各司其职，乒协被架空

　　管理德国联赛的是德国乒协和欧洲职业乒乓球联盟，但与中国乒超联赛最大的不同，是德国乒协并不直接参与俱乐部的管理，俱乐部每年只需向乒协交纳三万欧元的注册费用，德国联赛则交由职业乒乓球联盟作为联赛的“权力机关”，这与风靡世界的欧洲足球联赛机制相似。职业乒乓球联盟共负责管理一万多个注册俱乐部和七万多名运动员，而德国乒协旗下也注册成立了专门的乒乓球市场部门，负责一切乒乓球的市场推广和接洽赞助合作等事务。

　　同时，德国乒协也不能像中国乒协一样坐享其成，等待体校、市队、省队层层选拔把精英送到国家队来，他们每年还要自上而下组织地区性的小型乒乓球赛，直接从普通中学发掘选拔有培养前途的青少年人才。

　　赞助

　　多多益善，无排他协议

　　“对于俱乐部来说，它的投资人是最重要的。”曾在德国打球、后又成为乒球俱乐部经理人的前国球手杨建华介绍，德国乒乓球的发展在于爱好者的大力支持，俱乐部的牵头人多为乒乓球发烧友，德国政府也有税收减免政策来鼓励投资体育事业的企业和个人。

　　“当然，赞助和出卖冠名权才是最重要的生财之道。”跟篮球、足球不同，在乒乓球领域，不存在着诸如“阿迪达斯赞助的国家队不准穿耐克鞋”这样的垄断问题。德国乒协要尽可能多拉赞助，而多数乒乓球专业器材生产制造厂商也不介意自己的产品、L O G O跟竞争对手的产品、商标并排出现在德国乒协的赞助商目录里，德国乒协目前有16家官方赞助合作伙伴，其中同属专业乒乓球器材的生产商就有11个。(来源：南方都市报 南都网)

　　俱乐部的情况同样如此，乒乓球从某一家赞助商得到的赞助金额有限，没有一家企业会为乒乓球提供价值百万哪怕是几十万欧元的赞助，为保证生存，俱乐部必须尽一切力量多拉赞助，“所以德国俱乐部的球衣大多相当花哨，巴掌大的地方通常就有十几个广告。”杨建华说。德国许多著名的体育联合会俱乐部都有下设的乒乓球队，如云达不来梅、汉堡H SV、BV B多特蒙德和柏林赫塔，这些俱乐部会因为与主联合会的依附关系无法出售冠名权，从而损失了一笔可观的收入。

　　球迷

　　比赛红火，上座率平平

　　包括施之皓在内的许多曾在德国打过球的圈中人都感叹，德国乒乓球的专业水平虽不如中国，但这项运动在德国普及率却不比中国低。在德国，几乎家家户户都有自己的乒乓球桌，哪怕是大学生宿舍里，每栋宿舍的地下室里也会配备一两张乒乓球台。多特蒙德世乒赛上，威斯特法伦体育馆人气最旺的区域不是球馆内，而是场外专设的青少年乒乓球体验区。

　　不过，乒乓球对德国人来说只是一种和长跑、自行车一样的健身和锻炼方式，爱好者不少，观众则不一定多。跟世界大多数国家一样，乒乓球项目的局限性导致了比赛上座率不高，伴随而来的是电视转播权无法售出转化为盈利。据统计，哪怕是拥有德国之星波尔(微博)的杜塞尔多夫俱乐部，平均一个赛季的入场观众总数也仅1万多人，这在德国联赛已算是“火爆”的球市。

　　德国的乒乓球俱乐部主场多设在可容纳几百至一千人左右的小场馆，所以尽管统计数字看上去并不庞大，但许多比赛还基本能办得热热闹闹。“德国有相当成熟的球迷俱乐部管理和维护球员和球迷之间的关系，每场比赛后，都会有十五分钟左右的球员球迷互动时间，主场还会有赛后宴会，提供给球员和球迷进一步交流的平台。”杨建华介绍。与吴佳多同为德国国手的海外兵团成员孙祯琦，她所加盟的俱乐部叫T T G宾根，那是一个距离法兰克福约45分钟车程的小城镇，“因为地方比较小，民众平常都没有太多的消遣，所以到比赛日都会有挺多人来看。”孙祯琦说。

　　隐忧

　　收入不高，好球员分流

　　一项联赛的职业化还体现在俱乐部对球员商业价值的开发上，德国联赛中，一些明星级球员可以有个人的赞助商，波尔之所以在德国一呼百应，除了因为他成绩突出，更缘于他俊朗的形象为他和俱乐部带来了众多广告。

　　与商业化的开发相辅相承的就是自由球员制度，在这种制度下，球员隶属于自己的俱乐部，工资和奖金与比赛的输赢有直接的关系。自由球员制度建立在市场经济的基础上，所以只要大的经济环境运转正常，球员又能保持一个良好的竞技状态，俱乐部不会轻易终止合同，这使得不少技术型选手都能充分延长运动寿命，也给许多预备退役的运动员提供新的平台和出路。

　　乒乓球运动员的收入水平在德国虽然略高于普通劳动者，但跟足球、赛车、冰球甚至并不怎么受德国人重视的篮球运动员收入根本就不能相比。费斯透露，在德国打联赛，最好的男选手收入能达到六七万欧元，但半职业的女子联赛会有一定差距。乒乓球在德国只是一种兴趣爱好，终究不能成为谋生的手段，许多青少年一般都在上小学、中学时打乒乓球，毕业之后便告一段落。

　　纯粹论收入，德国联赛与周边的荷兰、法国、西班牙等欧洲联赛差距不大，而在中国乒超联赛诞生后，包括波尔、苏斯，甚至老将施拉格等欧洲名将都曾试图出走，到竞技水平更高的联赛中历练，“世界第一大联赛”由此被搁到了一个尴尬的位置。德国人的忧患意识很强，在此次世乒赛期间，德国乒协和州一级乒协就多次探讨一个相同的话题：在新兴联赛的冲击下，高水平的德国职业联赛要如何吸引与之水平相当的球员。(南都特派记者丁淑莹 发自多特蒙德)

特评：德国，中国乒球榜样！
https://sports.qq.com/a/20120326/000801.htm

德国乒乓球职业化联赛始于1966年，被誉为世界上乒乓球职业化开展最完备的国家，而中国乒乓球所谓职业化联赛起步于1995年。中德职业化联赛创办时间相差近30年。不过，差距不仅仅是年代，更是如何开展职业化的行为方式。

譬如，德国乒协“超脱”，不会干涉球队经营。管理德国乒乓联赛的是德国乒协和职业乒乓球联盟，但乒协会并不直接参与俱乐部的管理，俱乐部只要每年向德国乒协交纳3万欧元的注册费用，就可以不为联赛的事务性工作操心了。也就是说，各俱乐部的经营权都在自己手上。

又譬如，俱乐部都精打细算，球衣花哨印满广告。俱乐部队想从某一家赞助商得到的赞助金额有限，没有一家企业会为乒乓球提供价值全恶赞助，为保证生存，俱乐部就必须尽一切力量多拉赞助。所以德国俱乐部的球衣大多相当花哨，巴掌大的地方通常就有十几种广告。

足球报：在德国，打球的比看球的多
https://sports.qq.com/a/20120326/000787.htm
https://sports.qq.com/zt2012/germany/index.htm

职能完善的德国乒协

...

尽管乒乓球在德国并不是热门运动，但德国乒协的建制却非常完备、各部门分工明确，德国乒乓球运动水平日趋提高，与德国乒协的努力息息相关。德国乒协总部设在法兰克福，下设新闻部门、联赛资格审核部门，竞赛部门、公关部门、财务部门，和对外联络部门。除此之外，德国乒协还注册成立了独立的乒乓球市场TMGmbH，专门负责一切乒乓球的市场推广和接洽赞助合作等事务。德国乒协还拥有一本官方杂志《TISCHTENNIS》，主要介绍德国联赛、国家队动态和德国俱乐部在欧洲的动态，杂志印刷精美，每月出版一次。

德国一共有16个联邦州，而德国乒协下属却有20个州一级的乒协。因为乒乓球爱好者在德国的分部呈不平衡状态，巴登符滕堡一个州里就拥有“巴登”“符滕堡”“南巴登”三个州级乓协。小小的莱茵兰－法尔茨州也拥有两个州一级乒协。

流行广告迷彩服

跟篮球足球不同，在乒乓球领域，不存在着诸如“阿迪达斯赞助的国家队不准穿耐克鞋”“KAPPA赞助的球队不许穿彪马的T恤”这样的麻烦。德国乒协要尽可能多拉赞助，而多数乒乓球专业器材生产制造厂商也不介意自己的产品、LOGO跟竞争对手的产品、商标并排出现在德国乒协的赞助商目录里。德国乒协目前有16家赞助商官方合作伙伴，除去阿迪达斯、电器集团利博海尔、保险公司ARAG和出版商菲利皮卡，乒乓之旅和德国大众银行外的剩下11个赞助商，悉数是专业乒乓球器材生产商，包括TSP、TIBHER,SPONE-TA、NITTAKU、蝴蝶、ANDRO、Cornilleau、DONIC、JOOLA和来自中国的红双喜。

出卖冠名权是德国乒乓俱乐部重要的生财之道，波尔效力的TTVGönnern的冠名权卖给了建筑公司RE-BAU，女子联赛冠军LANGWEID把冠名权卖给了MUELLER奶业，而云达不来梅乒乓球队这样跟其他项目联合会成依附关系的俱乐部就因为无法出售冠名权而损失了一笔可观的收入，像杜赛尔多夫这样死守着“布鲁西亚”这样的传统名称荣誉，拒绝为经济利益出卖冠名权的队伍现在在德国已经是凤毛麟角了。跟热门项目不同，乒乓球从某一家赞助商处得到的赞助金额有限，没有一家企业会为乒乓球会提供价值百万哪怕是几十万欧元的赞助，为保证生存，乒乓球俱乐部就必须团结一切可以团结的力量，集腋成裘，多拉赞助，才能填满自己的腰包。所以德国乒乓球俱乐部的球衣大多相当花哨，Gönnern俱乐部胸前巴掌大的一块地方，就充斥着ODDSED博彩公司、蝴蝶乒乓球器材、法兰克福市政交通、LICHTER啤酒的商标，不仅如此，再仔细看能发现球衣左肩上扛着易龙能源、右肩上是主赞助商REBAU。

对于参加半职业联赛的女乒俱乐部，赞助商的地位就更为重要，说赞助商是女平俱乐部的衣食父母也不为过。本赛季的女乒冠军队LANGWEID本赛的门票销售量只有1742张，该俱乐部主场最贵的门票只有9欧元1张，也就是说，一家俱乐部一年的门票收入最多只有15678欧元，远不够支付6名队员一个月的工资，更不要说到其他城市和欧洲其他国家参加比赛的费用了，还好有MUELLER奶业这座大靠山一举解决了他们在经济上的后顾之忧，球员专心打球，教练专心带队，球队夺得德甲冠军后又挺进了欧洲冠军杯决赛。

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCBjfu9VvzU

 

[vossi39]

....but I assume it's pretty similar in Germany.

Its your assumption and its wrong !

German government is only looking after sports on an individual basis (athletes) and only for those athletes which represent Germany in the Olympic/Paralympics.
The money (around 7 MIO EUR for all sports disciplines last year) is given to a NGO (Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe), which also serve as a fund raising institution, that then gives the money to the athletes.

 

[Aizen]

I think pro players' funding is another different topic.

I don't know Germany but as I see in Netherlands, majority of clubs cannot keep running without some government and municipality fund. (TT Club fees are generally cheaper than other sports). I assume Germany should be similar. At least they should cover rents etc.

 

[vossi39]

As already pointed out. This is totally down to the community level. They decide on the benefits a club might receive in form of not paying fees for training hall etc. But there is no government funding and with increasing financial gaps in all communities, the fees become a necessity to run other services (e.g. Kindergarten, Schools etc.), which are also community financed and not run by the government.
You need to understand the "Föderales System" which has clear separation on what is financed by the government and what is financed by the states and what is down to the level of communities. Its a complex system and even if you would know from one club, where there is a bit of public money support, you can not be sure that this is true for the rest of the clubs.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

German clubs rely a lot on local sponsors
since its a local community, it is common that local companies get involved.

so all depending on what scale of club we talking about, it will also have a direct influence on the size of the company.

France is very unique, the city (local gov) will finance or provide funding to clubs.
There is normally requirements to be met, which is very easy for most clubs.
IE, one of the clubs in Paris, where I sent an SA player many years ago, the club gets 5000 euros a month from the city. They had to run junior programs at "x" hours a week and do certain things to get that money.
The same thing there - that club is a very family nested environment.