All facts and figures

Historically valuable! Sturm breaks all records

Sturm Managing Director Thomas Tebbich and Sturm President Christian Jauk presented the impressive figures for the past financial year.

(Bild: Sepp Pail)

The soccer champions put the figures on the table! Club president Christian Jauk and managing director Thomas Tebbich are not only celebrating an absolutely successful year for Sturm in sporting terms. From an economic point of view, the Graz club also has an impressive year in the rear-view mirror. But where will the path lead in the future and what will happen with the money? 

In sporting terms, Sturm had a dream year last season: they won the league title, confirmed their Cup win and made it into the Champions League.

But the club also broke all previous records financially...

• Sturm games as a crowd puller: "We reached our limits at times," says Managing Director Thomas Tebbich. "Many games were sold out, we had 8600 subscribers. And we know that we already have well over 10,000 this year." Impressive: an average of 14,874 spectators watched the Sturm home games. "That's the highest Bundesliga average in the club's history!"

• Black and white jerseys as a top seller: While a few years ago soccer fans only wore Messi and Ronaldo jerseys, Sturm jerseys are now back in fashion. Strong: 12,000 jerseys of the soccer champions were sold in the pre-season.

• Membership numbers are rising and rising: From 9,000 in the previous year to just over 19,000 in one financial year. The 20,000th Sturm member was recently presented against Rapid.

Sturm fans flock to the stadium and set new records.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

• Historic revenue record: a total of 51.4 million euros. "Large components of this sum are UEFA funds, transfer revenue and additional VIP income from the Longin Club that we built. Then there's the increased average attendance," says Tebbich, who congratulates his communications department on becoming "social media champions" in the league rankings for the second time in a row, achieving a total of almost 120 million impressions on the various online channels.

• From a small Styrian company to a medium-sized enterprise: this is how President Jauk describes the soccer champions' steep rise. "We now have almost 200 employees, around half of whom work for us full-time," the club boss calculates.

• Sturm is on the move: "We have become an economic factor - even outside of soccer. And not just in Styria," emphasizes Jauk. "Carinthian tourism, for example, has calculated that the Champions League games in Klagenfurt bring in around two million euros per game."

• The champions are investing sustainably: not only in the squad, but also in the future. In addition to the VIP hospitility ("Longin-Klub"), a training center is being built in Puntigam, which will become home to the young talent and the Sturm ladies. In future, there will be large office spaces for employees, three soccer pitches, a covered stand for 500 spectators and a small hall. How much will it cost? Between 15 and 16 million. "A project of the century," says Jauk proudly.

The Merkur Arena in Graz-Liebenau

(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Stadium problem remains
Despite all the euphoria, there are also critical voices - especially when it comes to the stadium. Sturm is reaching its limits: "The current stadium infrastructure is slowing down our development. We don't have the facilities that other clubs in Vienna and Linz have. As the second-largest sports city, Graz should not be in the bottom third in terms of infrastructure, but should move back towards the top in Austria," emphasizes Jauk.

"My concern is that - when I hear terms such as feasibility study, as is currently the case, where I always put words such as 'time delay' in brackets - I often hear stag beetles or similar problems. Soccer is not currently the number one priority in the city of Graz. But it should be." Otherwise, Jauk believes that the ceiling has already been reached: "We are currently playing beyond our means as far as the framework conditions are concerned. We must therefore continue to innovate."