Dispute Between Dusseldorf, Esprit Regarding Stadium Sponsorship To Last Until 2014

The dispute between the city of Dusseldorf, Germany and fashion company Esprit regarding the sponsorship of the multi-purpose stadium, ESPRIT arena, "will continue until ’14, at least," according to Kirchner & Gerle of EXPRESS. The dispute "was expected to be resolved at a conciliation hearing on Oct. 30." However, due to a chamber change, the legal hearing "has been postponed until January." Esprit "canceled the sponsorship contract early this year in part due to the fact that the city removed the company’s logo during the Eurovision Song Contest in ’11." The dispute became public at the end of March. Since then, Esprit "has removed its logos from inside the stadium and left its suite unused." The city in return "has made use of the contract’s option and extended it until ’19." An Esprit spokesperson said, "We are confident that our legal opinion will prevail." Esprit signed the deal with the city, which was valued at €1M ($1.36M) annually, in '09 (EXPRESS, 10/6).