Swiss Super League Club Grasshoppers Zürich Lose Main Sponsor Over Management Issues

Swiss Super League club Grasshoppers Zürich "has reportedly lost its main sponsor," according to Frieder Schilling of SPONSORs. Businessman Reinhard Fromm "will end his shirt sponsorship deal with the club due to, in his opinion, insufficient leadership of the club." Fromm resigned as VP of the club because of personal differences a year ago. The shirt sponsorship deal reportedly had a value of 1M Swiss francs ($1.1M) per year. Fromm: "When you spend that much money, you want to see a positive effect. And I'm also not convinced by the new people that have taken over the [club]. Not one of them has any football experience." In addition, the Grasshoppers' management "also disappointed him." He said, "I wasn't even included in the search for a new board, despite me investing the most money." Fromm also canceled his membership in the so-called Owners Club, which is a group of investors that provide up to 250,000 Swiss francs ($270,000) annually (SPONSORs, 6/12).