Experts warned on Thursday that the "emissions scandal engulfing German carmaker Volkswagen could have consequences for the Bundesliga," as the company "invests hundreds of millions of euros in German football annually," according to Wagner & Grohmann of REUTERS. The world's "biggest automaker by sales" has admitted to U.S. regulators that it programmed its cars to "detect when they were being tested and alter the running of their diesel engines to conceal their true emissions." Sports marketing experts said that Volkswagen, "fearing compensation claims that could run into the billions, could now potentially start reviewing sponsoring activities." The company owns German Cup winners VfL Wolfsburg, pumping an estimated €100M ($112M) annually into the Champions League club. VW also owns stakes in Bayern Munich and promoted Ingolstadt through its subsidiary Audi, and is "also an official partner of the German Cup competition." Further, Volkswagen has various sponsorship deals with more than a dozen other Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga clubs, including Hamburg SV, Schalke 04 and Eintracht Braunschweig. Autos expert Jürgen Pieper of Bankhaus Metzler said, "The financial pressure to save money is there. It is only natural to also look at that (sponsorship) sector." This is a view shared by Coventry University Professor for Sport Business Strategy & Marketing Simon Chadwick, who said that sports deals would "quickly come under scrutiny as Volkswagen set aside funds for those potential claims." Chadwick: "You imagine they will now be looking to strip away cost and inevitably sport will fall in the spotlight. If the kinds of figures talked about (what Volkswagen has already set aside) are accurate, this has to have ramifications for financial performances and the management of the business." German Institute for Sports Marketing Dir Andre Buehler said, "When a company is struggling financially then marketing expenditure is on the very top of the to-scrap list" (REUTERS, 9/24). ESPN's Stephan Uersfeld reported Wolfsburg sporting exec Klaus Allofs said that the club does not fear that the Volkswagen emissions scandal "will affect the club's sponsorship and finances." Allofs: "Of course, we discuss it [the crisis] on the board." Allofs added that he also talked to Wolfsburg's head of supervisory board, Francisco Javier Garcia, -- an exec board member at VW -- but "admitted they did not go into details." Allofs added, "We have not discussed the effects on VfL. I believe that's not necessary. The VfL commitment has a great meaning. And it will not be automatically questioned by a crisis. We know the value VfL has for Volkswagen" (ESPN, 9/24).
