- Partnership for innovation and digitalization launching for 2021/22 season
- Deutsche Telekom expands commitment to soccer with focus on technology and regionality
- 1. FC Köln: "We've got the anthem, you've got the jingle!"
Deutsche Telekom is becoming 1. FC Köln soccer club's exclusive partner for telecommunications and technology. Both want to drive the digitalization of soccer forward. The partnership between Telekom and the Bundesliga club will launch for the 2021/22 season and is planned for at least three years. With the partnership, Telekom is expanding its soccer commitment and focusing on technology and regionality. The company recently announced its collaboration with the Hamburger SV club.
“Together with FC we want to develop exciting and innovative applications for the fans. The future is digital and soccer would be unthinkable without digitalization. We want to make a completely virtual game with a very special experience of being part of the action possible for the fans,” said Klaus Werner, Director of Finance at Telekom Deutschland. “Technologies like augmented or virtual reality will make this a special experience. Thanks to our 5G mobile network, the data is transmitted in real time. So the fans will be able to experience a digital 360-degree stadium.
Deutsche Telekom will support 1. FC Köln and its over 111,000 members in realizing their digital projects in the future. As part of this, the company will advise the Bundesliga club to transfer its entire technical infrastructure to a cloud solution. Telekom will also be responsible for hosting the club's own online platforms and apps in the future. In addition to infrastructure topics, innovative formats and content are to be developed and implemented together. The company is also looking to create content and live formats in the future that will boost its regional presence in Nordrhein-Westfalen.
Alexander Wehrle, managing director of 1. FC Köln, "is proud that we have been able to get a global corporation like Deutsche Telekom on board to work with the soccer club. Telekom will not only be present as another main partner at our home games in the RheinEnergieSTADION but will also help us shape the long road ahead towards digitalization."
In a video posted about the partnership, 1. FC Köln welcomed its new partner, saying "We've got the anthem, you've got the jingle. Sustainable, social and local. And that's precisely why you're the perfect partner. Welcome to the team!"
1. FC Köln and Deutsche Telekom already work together successfully on joint projects. Both are involved with the eSports business SK Gaming, where they are developing the gaming market. 5G is a key technology that is becoming ever more important in this context. The partners also support the 5G Co:Creation Lab together with TH Köln university of applied sciences and the University of Cologne, an initiative aimed at driving innovation.
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