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Infront Germany, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the international sports marketing agency Infront Sports & Media, has been appointed as marketing partner of the German football club Fortuna Düsseldorf. The agreement covers the stadium advertising and certain hospitality rights for the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf. It will run initially for the 2009/2010 season.

Fortuna Düsseldorf is one of the cult clubs in Germany’s football league and extremely popular in its region, North Rhine Westphalia. In its 114 year history, Fortuna has made several long-term appearances in the Bundesliga, was twice winner of the German DFB Cup and has qualified for the UEFA competitions three times. In 1979, the club finished the European Cup Winners Final as runner up to FC Barcelona (3:4 in extra time). Fortuna has just finished the 2008/2009 season in second position in the new third league (3. Liga), gaining promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.

Fortuna’s home ground, the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, was built between 2002 to 2004, replacing the former Rhinestadium. The stadium is among the most modern multi-functional football stadiums in Europe. It accommodates 51,500 spectators, has a closable roof as well as state-of-the-art business and VIP areas. A special heating system allows events to take place in comfort, even in winter. In June 2009, the naming rights were awarded to the fashion brand Esprit; hence the official name of the stadium will remain “Esprit Arena”, at least until the season ending in 2014.

Dr. Dirk Kall, Chairman of the Fortuna Board said: “Infront has provided us with the perfect offer for our current situation. We believe that we have chosen the best possible professional partner to help us achieve our marketing sales targets for our return to the 2. Bundesliga. Infront and its management have a strong heritage in football as well as a lot of experience in the German market.”

Günter Netzer, Member of the Board of Infront Sports & Media, said: “We are very pleased that Fortuna Düsseldorf has chosen Infront and adopted our marketing recommendations. Fortuna is a sleeping giant amongst Germany’s long-established clubs. We hope that we can develop this new relationship into a long-term partnership, but for now we will provide immediate support to fine-tune the existing stadium advertising and hospitality concept. In addition, we will bring our reliable and effective rotating advertising system to the Esprit Arena.”