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In the past, players like Lothar Matthäus have celebrated great successes in Germany’s Bundesliga with balls produced by DERBYSTAR. Now it is up to today’s Bundesliga stars to follow in these footsteps, because the ball specialist from the town of Goch in Germany’s Lower Rhine (Niederrhein) region is re-turning to the big football stage as of the 2018/19 season!
DERBYSTAR will provide for the first time the official match ball of the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It will premiere in early August when the Bundesliga 2 kicks off, with the logo of the Bundesliga 2 to be integrated for the first time. Before rolling in the Bundesliga at the opening match of the 56th season on August 24, it will be used within the context of the Supercup, when DFB-Cup winner Eintracht Frankfurt receives German Champion FC Bayern Munich.
“DERBYSTAR’s balls have enjoyed an excellent reputation for decades and have already been an integral part in many Bundesliga stadiums in the past. The long tradition of continuously outstanding ball quality underlines the great expertise and experience of the company,” explains Ansgar Schwenken, DFL Director of Football Affairs & Supporters and Member of the DFL Executive Committee.
Bundesliga and DERBYSTAR combined in ball design
The cooperation between DERBYSTAR and Bundesliga celebrates a premiere with the combination of two established brand logos on the ball.
“The classic DERBYSTAR lettering in conjunction with Bundesliga’s distinctive red field and the clear ‘Bundesliga’ lettering offer the high recognition value of both brands and at the same time symbolize the intensity with which we and the DFL jointly interpret our four-year cooperation,” said Andreas Filipovic, management member responsible for sponsoring & sales at DERBYSTAR.
To achieve this, established DERBYSTAR style elements were combined with the unique Bundesliga design. The ball still has the classic black and white look that has always stood for the straightforwardness and reliability of a truly traditional product. It was complemented by dynamic red elements, which act in conjunction with the white color as an unmistakable hallmark of the Bundesliga brand. A dynamic stripe design symbolizes the speed and movement of the ball in a fast game. Additional gray nuances discreetly incorporating well-known Bundesliga brand elements complete the appearance.
Original 32-panel construction for optimal flight behaviour
Apart from the new design, quality was naturally the main focus in product development. Joachim Böhmer, management member responsible for marketing & production at DERBYSTAR, describes the new, FIFA Quality Pro certified ball as follows, “The ball impresses through its outstanding aerodynamic properties resulting from the intersection of 32 panels consisting of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. Flight characteristics are further optimized through the novel golf ball structure of the material surface.”
