Kladno Knights land new sponsor in Kaufland

The Kladno Knights hockey club announced a new sponsorship deal with the Kaufland retail chain for one season. However, if the Knights of Kladno manage to advance from the second-highest Czech hockey league – Chance Liga, to the highest – Tipsport extra league, Kaufland’s partnership will automatically be extended to four years.

The Knights, owned by hockey legend Jaromír Jágr, have not had a general partner since 2014; Sazka or Huawei have so far brought the club the most sponsorship money within similar lower-order commercial partnerships. Trinity Bank last joined forces with Kladno as part of its sponsorship.

Kladno has managed to get a partner who should take care of the largest part of the Central Bohemian club’s budget. In exchange, he will gain, among other things, the most visible place on the jersey. Neither Kladno nor the new general partner of the Kaufland club disclosed further specific details of the cooperation. According to estimates, the performance may be in the order of units up to lower tens of millions of crowns.

For Kaufland, this is an extension of its presence in hockey. The company has been cooperating with the Czech Hockey Association since last year. For Kladno, this will undoubtedly be a welcome improvement.

“We want to help the traditional hockey club return to the elite. We know what efforts Jaromír Jágr and his team is making to make it happen, “said Oliver Gschwendtner, CEO of Kaufland Czech Republic. “We appreciate Kaufland’s support. All the more so as this strong company began to support us in the current difficult times,” says club spokesman Lukáš Jůdl.

Professional sports are now struggling with a lack of marketing money and general paralysis due to closed stadiums for spectators. The Extraliga started again only a few days ago after a 45-day forced break. The Chance League is still waiting for the authorities to allow their season to continue.

The budget of the clubs in the Tipsport league is around 50 million crowns. In the Chance league, the budgets are lower. Many clubs had to resort to cutting players’ salaries and other austerity measures.

In this context, it is worth mentioning the recent replacement of the white tiger symbol on the White Tigers Liberec’s jerseys. The place, which belonged for 20 years to the image of the tiger, after which the club is named, will now be replaced in a regular rotation by the club’s sponsors’ logos. In total, Liberec wants to spin over 30 of them.