Contract expires

Wanted: New name for the Wörthersee Stadium!

(Bild: Florian Pessentheiner)

"28BLACK-Arena" - that's the official name of the Klagenfurt stadium for Bundesliga matches. Curiously, however, it is currently no longer recognizable - at least visually. And the contract between the energy drink manufacturer, the city and Austria Klagenfurt is coming to an end. What happens next: 

When Austria Klagenfurt host Austria Vienna in the purple Bundesliga clash tomorrow Sunday (2.30pm), the question arises: what exactly is the venue currently called?

Permanently invisible
Klagenfurt's 2008 European Championship arena is currently - at least visually - nameless! Because the huge letters of the official stadium sponsor, the energy drink manufacturer 28BLACK, are still permanently covered by a tarpaulin (see picture). This should only be the case immediately before, during and after Sturm Graz's Champions League matches - as UEFA sponsor Pepsi insists on the non-competition clause here. Instead, the name is curiously permanently invisible. . .

"Offering the platform for a new name"
What's more: the contract between 28BLACK, the sports park, the city and Austria Klagenfurt expires at the end of the 2025 season. And city press spokesman Patrick Jonke emphasizes: "28BLACK will not be extended. There are no concrete talks with new sponsors yet - but we will of course offer the platform again." The arena is known as the "Wörthersee Stadium" for non-Bundesliga events.

Not a successful collaboration
In any case, the collaboration with 28BLACK was not a successful one. After just one year, the company withdrew prematurely as Austria's breast sponsor - there is even talk of payment defaults. As a result, the Klagenfurt jersey is still blank and a new main sponsor has been sought for more than a year.