A red holiday

This is the new main sponsor of the GAK

Dominik Frieser is the first new signing at GAK.

(Bild: GAK 1902)

In sporting terms, things went splendidly for GAK. The team returned to the Bundesliga after 17 years. In the evening, the championship title was celebrated with the fans in Weinzödl. Before that, there were two pieces of good news: The club brought in an experienced Bundesliga player and landed a main sponsor.

"The GAK is a club close to my heart, I spent my youth there. I didn't have to think twice about it," says Dominik Frieser. He is the new winger at the Bundesliga promoted team. The 30-year-old comes from Hartberg and has played 140 games in the top league and 106 in the second-highest. He also played four times in Champions League qualifying, ten times in the Europa League group stage and also played 56 games in England's second-highest league for Barnsley.

"Many friends among the fans"
"I want to attack with GAK next season. I'm really looking forward to putting my heart on the pitch for the hottest club in the world and always giving 110 percent," says Frieser, already eagerly anticipating his new role. "I also have a lot of friends among the fans. So the decision wasn't that difficult." He is currently on vacation in Mallorca until Saturday, recovering from the long season with Hartberg. Which missed out on participation in the Conference League against Austria on Tuesday.

The GAK is a club close to my heart, I spent my youth there. I didn't have to think twice about it!

Dominik Frieser

Equally pleasing: GAK has a new main sponsor! Mapei will be present at the Neo-Bundesliga club in future and has signed a four-year contract with the club, with the option of two more. The company is an internationally active Italian manufacturer of construction chemical products for laying wall and floor coverings. Mapei is also a long-standing partner of US Sassuolo Calcio, a team relegated from the Italian first division, and also owns the stadium there.

GAK chairman Rene Ziesler (left) and Mapei Austria managing director Andreas Wolf are happy about the new partnership.

(Bild: Michael Gratzer)

12,000 employees and a turnover of 4.5 billion euros
"We are also a partner of the UCI Cycling World Championships and have a long tradition there. And sponsoring the GAK was a matter close to my heart. It took us less than two weeks to put the package together," said a delighted Andreas Wolf, Managing Director of Mapei Austria and future member of the GAK Advisory Board. By 2023, the company will have generated a turnover of around 4.5 billion euros with around 12,000 employees.

"Have followed suit economically"
"We won't talk about the scale of the sponsorship," says GAK chairman Rene Ziesler. But what he can say is: "In sporting terms, things have gone really well. Now we've also managed to catch up economically. The economic basis for the club is secure. Mapei is a top company in the construction industry." This year's budget in the second division was around 5.5 million euros, "we are planning on 8.5 to 9 million euros for the Bundesliga. But we know that we still have a lot of work to do. And we now have to work through these things."