From the first to the very last second of the FIFA World Cup (June 11 – July 11) in South Africa, all eyes will be glued to Bavaria—or at least to one of its products.
And that’s “Jabulani”. This hyper-advanced ball was developed by adidas, which is headquartered in the central Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, for use in the 64 games of the football tournament. The world cup vies with the Olympics for being the world’s most widely followed sporting event. Held in Germany in 2006, the last World Cup had a global TV audience of more than 26 billion.
Claiming to be the world’s largest supplier of football gear by reportedly holding a 34% share of the world market, adidas plans on leveraging the World Cup to break its record, set in 2008, of earning €1.3 billion in football-derived revenues.
Another company with very big plans for the World Cup is PUMA, which is also headquartered in Herzogenaurach.
Thanks to adidas, PUMA and other manufacturers, Bavarian products are—literally—to be seen everywhere in South Africa. Siemens subsidiary OSRAM, one of the world’s two largest illumination companies, is responsible for the lighting in 8 of the 10 stadiums in the tournament. Much of the electricity powering these lights will stem from Siemens, which received a billion euro commission to build two power plants in the country.
To make sure that the World Cup’s 32 teams and 350,000 international tourists get to their destinations in this large country of 1.2 million square kilometers, the country’s rail corporation purchased 110 buses from the Munich-based MAN.
The items being supplied by Bavaria’s producers include the giant, durable tents flanking the stadiums and serving as hospitality centers, restaurants, and storage areas. The manufacturer of these 100 tents is Eschenbach, a family company from Bad Königshofen in northwestern Bavaria. All told, the tents will cover an area equivalent to 20 football fields.
And many of the plates, cups and other porcelain--100,000 items all told--being used in these tents will also be from the state. It’s from BHS tabletop, which is headquartered in the eastern Bavarian town of Selb in Upper Franconia.
Throw in BMW limousines, Diehl security systems and it all adds up to Bavaria’s getting a big piece of the €1.5 billion in orders placed with German companies for the Cup.
Source: Invest in Bavaria, Business Bavaria newsletter, Issue 6 2010
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