Eintracht Braunschweig fans prior to their Bundesliga 2 home match against Heidenheim. - © IMAGO/Franziska Gora/IMAGO/Jan Huebner
Eintracht Braunschweig fans prior to their Bundesliga 2 home match against Heidenheim. - © IMAGO/Franziska Gora/IMAGO/Jan Huebner
2. Bundesliga

Eintracht Braunschweig fans raise over €200,000 to save stadium name

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Tradition plays a huge role in German football for supporters, and Eintracht Braunschweig fans are no different. In a bid to save the name of their beloved Eintracht-Stadion, they have raised over €200,000, and dipping into their pockets has given them their just rewards.

Braunschweig started 2023 with a 4-2 defeat away at Hamburg but, after the match, there was cause for celebration, as it was revealed that the club's stadium would keep its long-held name until at least 2025. The news comes after a Crowdsurfing page managed to collect €217,473.95 from donations over a period of eight months, which is enough to avoid selling the rights to the ground's name.

"By joining forces and after a brilliant final spurt, we managed to crack the required sum of €200,000 euros," exclaimed Braunschweig's managing director, Wolfram Benz, upon the announcement during a press conference on Wednesday. He also confirmed that the funds have already been worked into the club's budget for the next 24 months.

Eintracht-Stadion, whose name means so much to the club's supporters. - IMAGO/Susanne Hübner, Susanne Huebner/IMAGO/Hübner

It is an important victory for the fanbase of a club that is proud of its history. They have been playing at Eintracht-Stadion since 1923 but, when sponsors withdrew the funding that allowed Braunschweig to keep the stadium's name untouched at the end of the 2020/21 campaign, there were worries a huge part of this institution's soul would be lost. However, after searches for another similar sponsor proved fruitless, the supporters stepped up to the plate.

Clearly grateful for the commitment their fanbase has shown, Eintracht have decided that those who donated will receive a token of thanks in line with the value of each donation, whether that be a ball from a home win this season or a photo with the entire Braunschweig team.

Braunschweig fans will be eager to celebrate many more victories with Lion Lauberbach and his teammates at Eintracht-Stadion - IMAGO/Darius Simka/IMAGO/regios24

Braunschweig fans can thus rest easy and enjoy visits to Eintracht-Stadion for the foreseeable future.