Elmo and friends swap Sesame Street for Hamburg's Volksparkstadion
Usually it's Merlin Polzin in the Hamburg press room, but on Thursday, HSV's head coach had some colourful competition. Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Bert and Ernie took over the Volksparkstadion as the Red Shorts unveiled a new partnership with Sesame Workshop, the global nonprofit behind award-winning educational children's television series Sesame Street.
Hamburg board member for sport Kathleen Krüger joined the loveable characters on stage, while 50 lucky members of the club's Kids Club watched on.
The collaboration will see HSV and the Sesame Street characters feature in a series of activities aimed at children and families, with interactive sessions, storytime events and special appearances at the Volksparkstadion planned in the coming months.
There will also be events around World Children's Day and National Storytime Day later this year. And it wouldn't be Sesame Street without a little something colourful to take home. A limited-edition collection of co-branded HSV and Sesame Street merchandise is also in the works.
"For our youngest Red Shorts, this partnership is a real treat. For generations, Sesame Street has stood for the very values that are important to us at HSV: teamwork, respect and the joy of the game," commented Hamburg's head of young fans and soccer schools Janek Schmelzing. "When children grow up with both HSV and Sesame Street in the future, it will create a wonderful connection."
