Due to the loss of income caused by the corona virus, many athletes and clubs are facing financial ruin.

Professional athletes often finance themselves through prize money or - as additional income - by giving training sessions. Currently, there are no tournaments or training sessions, so that many athletes are completely without income. All the worse that the sensible postponement of the Olympic Games means that even firmly planned sponsorship income will be lost.

Clubs will lack the important spectator and catering revenues, without regular games, that normally cover a large part of the budget. Sponsorship income also falls away, as many sponsorships are tied to the running of the games. Nevertheless, many costs continue to run. Short-time work is only of limited help here, as the ongoing maintenance of the sports facilities alone takes up a considerable part of the budget. However, the sports facility cannot be sent into short-time work...

Time for solidarity!

To help in this situation, the digital sponsoring marketplace Sponsoo has started a relief action to collect sponsorship money for affected clubs right now.

On the action page "Corona emergency aid for professional athletes and clubs" companies can provide sponsorships with just a few clicks. Among other things, they can choose whether the sponsoring should benefit athletes, clubs or sporting events, and what kind of consideration they could imagine - for example, jersey sponsoring or social media contributions. 
Because despite all the solidarity, it is fair if the supporting companies also receive something in return. Although the Corona aid package has a social aspect, it is not a donation but a marketing service. The idea is to use marketing money in such a way that not only the company benefits, but also society and sport.

At the same time, Sponsoo collects the needs of athletes, clubs and events via the same campaign site. In the second step, Sponsoo then matches the sponsoring offer with the demand and supports the digital processing via the sponsoring platform at cost price.
Just one day after the start of the campaign, a five-figure amount of aid has already been pledged, and a three-figure number of athletes, clubs and events in need of help have registered their need.

So there is a lot to do - but that is exactly what is important in the current situation. Sponsoo Managing Director Andreas Kitzing describes it as follows: "This is not the time for selfishness. Only if we all stand together and show solidarity will we manage to get through the crisis well. We are happy for any help. Together we are strong!"

Further links:

• Action page "Corona help for athletes and clubs"
• Participation form for companies
• Participation form for athletes, clubs and sporting events
• Interview with professional athletes on the Corona crisis
• Interview with popular sports clubs on the Corona crisis