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Benedikt Becker
Marketing Director
Insights / 3 Min.
Nayeemul Islam
Junior Content Marketer
On 24 May 2025, VfB Stuttgart beat third-tier fairytale side Arminia Bielefeld 4-2 in front of 74,036 fans at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, lifting their first DFB-Pokal since 1997 and clinching a Europa League berth for 2025-26.
The final pulled 7.56 million average viewers on ZDF, a 32.7 % market share in Germany’s prime-time slot, before Sky’s pay-TV audience is even counted.
Hours before kick-of, VfB Stuttgart announced that the French betting brand Winamax would not appear on the commemorative cup jersey sold to fans all week. Instead, regional state bank Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) took the coveted chest ring for this single match.
Credit: LBBW.
The decision blindsided media and supporters: Thousands of special-edition shirts with the Winamax logo were suddenly obsolete – the club has promised compensation
€2.5 million in arrears: Winamax had failed to settle the final instalment of its 2024-25 fee despite repeated reminders.
Contractual trigger: VfB Stuttgart’s deal allowed logo removal in case of non-payment; management called the switch an “entrepreneurial necessity.”
Emergency replacement: LBBW, already signed as main sponsor from 2025-26 in a three-year, c. €25 m agreement, agreed to step in and even cover any future legal deductions arising from the dispute.
Winamax called the move “a clear breach” and “reputationally damaging,” hinting at legal action
LBBW found itself in the absolute sweet spot of visibility. The logo stayed on screen for a nationwide prime-time audience throughout the entire match and trophy ceremony, featured in hundreds of national and international media stories, and popped up in countless fan posts and highlight clips that racked up tens of millions of views. Factor in the live impact of a sold-out Olympiastadion and the result is an earned-media windfall comfortably into the seven-figure range - achieved without a single euro of extra ad spend. But it’s not just about visibility, LBBW has now etched its name in the club and city’s history books and will forever be remembered for this iconic title win.
Bottom Line: LBBW achieved nationwide launch and emotional halo in a single night – years of brand-building compressed into 90 minutes of football.
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Lost visibility on the most replayed VfB Stuttgart pictures for decades.
Public narrative of non-payment damaging trust with other rights-holders.
Potential legal fees plus sunk marketing spend.
Fan sentiment, already negative towards a betting sponsor, turned openly hostile.
1. Payment discipline is part of activation. Fail it and you may vanish from the biggest stage.
2. Have a contingency clause – and a standby partner. VfB Stuttgart solved a crisis in hours because an agreed-upon successor existed.
3. Final moments carry a “lifetime tail”. Trophy imagery lives forever; sponsor decisions must price in perpetual exposure.
4. Earned > paid. A single high-impact placement can outstrip an entire season’s media plan.
5. Measure, don’t guess. Only granular AI tracking – Shikenso’s specialty – turns screen time into hard numbers you can monetize.
6. Be flexible. Crises can be skillfully turned around by being ready to act quickly.
LBBW’s accelerated debut now leads seamlessly into its long-term deal, while Winamax faces contract arbitration. The episode will be cited in sponsorship textbooks: a live case of risk, readiness, and ROI – all visible on the front of a football shirt.
Whether you’re a rights-holder hedging against sponsor default or a brand hunting high-impact inventory, Shikenso Analytics quantifies every pixel of exposure across live, VOD, and social. Curious what your next “cup-final moment” is worth? Let’s talk.
