The chance of the century is in danger.

Since the Frankfurter Löwen parted ways with their exclusive partner, the Russian VTB Bank, last week, a project that fans and the makers of Frankfurt ice hockey have been dreaming of for years is suddenly on the brink again: the club's rise to the highest level German league, the German Ice Hockey League (DEL).

Because without the money from the bank, which has its European headquarters in Frankfurt, the lions would lack the income needed to issue a license for the DEL 1.

And whether the current round could be financed was in question for a long time, the club spoke of an "economic disaster".

Overall, the lion budget is around three million euros, the club did not announce specific figures about the shortfall.

Daniel Schleidt

Coordinator of the economics department in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Now, surprisingly, a new opportunity has opened up.

On Tuesday, the financial center initiative Frankfurt Main Finance announced that several members of the initiative would provide financial support to Löwen Frankfurt Eishockey-Betriebs GmbH in the current season.

According to the announcement by Frankfurt Main Finance, Deutsche Bank, Frankfurter Volksbank, Landesbank Helaba, the German branch of the Dutch ING, the private bank Metzler, the consultants from Oliver Wyman and the investment company Value Bridge have promised to close the financial gap in the short term.

It was said that discussions were being held with other players in the financial center.

Spontaneous helpfulness of the financial center

"The spontaneous helpfulness of the financial center is overwhelming and gives us courage, so we are very grateful to everyone involved," said Stefan Krämer, managing partner of Eishockey-Betriebs GmbH.

So you can concentrate more on ice hockey and the promotion round for the time being.

Nevertheless: "The situation remains critical for our club with regard to future seasons - nothing is still certain here, regardless of the league," said Krämer.

Without new sponsors, it is said, the future of both DEL 1 and DEL 2 would be in jeopardy.

In terms of sport, things are going well for the Löwen: The club finished first in the regular round yesterday evening and hopes to qualify for the first division in the play-off games that begin in mid-March.

For the club and its sponsoring company, this perspective is still quite new, after all, the DEL was a closed system without promotion and relegation for a long time, and qualification has only been possible again for two years.

The lions want to seize this opportunity now.

But Russia's invasion of Ukraine left the club with no choice but to part with VTB Bank, which had been the club's partner for ten years, "because we have clear values ​​that we stand for," as the spokeswoman says – even if it could cost the license for the first division.

As of now, this playing permit would not be obtainable without at least one sponsor. In addition to the exclusive partner, the lions are also looking for a main sponsor.

But the ice hockey players are hoping that the Frankfurt banks might take a liking to the lion.

"We hope to be able to expand the partnership," says the spokeswoman.

From Frankfurt Main Finance it is said that the lions found themselves in an extraordinary situation in which the actors in the financial center were challenged.

“Many members have already clearly shown their solidarity with Ukraine.

Hence the great willingness to support the Löwen Frankfurt, whose loss of sponsors is directly related to the crisis there,” said Gerhard Wiesheu, President of Frankfurt Main Finance.

Now that the season is financially secure, the lions can concentrate on their sporting promotion.

At the other games, where the VTB lettering used to be printed on the jerseys and in the sports hall, another word will be seen: Peace.