The Sports Ball will probably no longer be held in Wiesbaden in the next few years.

On Tuesday morning, the magistrate rejected a proposal from the head of the economics department, Oliver Franz (CDU), which provided for a municipal subsidy of 248,000 euros per year, with which the ball could have continued to take place in the state capital.

Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende (SPD) voted in favor of the proposal, deviating from the majority of the magistrates, and regretted that the ball is now likely to leave the state capital from 2023 onwards.

In the meantime, the city of Frankfurt has expressed its interest in bringing the renowned benefit gala of the German Sports Aid Foundation to the Main.

"The Sports Ball is a flagship event for the state capital and a showcase for the performance of the Rhein-Main Congress Center (RMCC).

Its positive effect cannot be calculated in euros and cents,” Mende said after the meeting.

Franz's proposal stipulated that the municipal subsidy should consist of unused budget funds from previous years.

Lotto Hessen would have contributed 400,000 euros annually and another 200,000 euros by the casino.

The total subsidy would have been 848,000 euros.

The rent for the RMCC should be 548,000 euros.

Since the Congress Center belongs to the city, the gross proceeds minus the city subsidy would have generated around 300,000 euros in additional income for the city group per year.

With a contract term of five years, the city group will forego rental income of around 2.75 million euros from its own congress company, it was heard after the decision.

However, this is only true if the management of the RMCC does not succeed in finding an adequate replacement event for the Ball des Sports, which occupies the RMCC with set-up and dismantling for about two weeks.

In addition, the municipal grants of almost 1.25 million euros over five years would have to be offset.

which occupies the RMCC with set-up and dismantling for about two weeks.

In addition, the municipal grants of almost 1.25 million euros over five years would have to be offset.

which occupies the RMCC with set-up and dismantling for about two weeks.

In addition, the municipal grants of almost 1.25 million euros over five years would have to be offset.

"I very much regret the decision.

From my point of view, the sports ball has never been as attractive for Wiesbaden as it is today, because the state has never co-financed it via Lotto GmbH and at the same time it would have been more necessary than ever due to the corona losses for the catering and hotel industry ", Franz said to the magistrate's decision.

Martin Michel, Managing Director of Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing GmbH, had previously presented studies to the members of the magistrate that listed the secondary effects of the ball.

According to this, the ball triggers direct and indirect added value in the region of more than four million euros every year.

The Hesse Hotel and Gastronomy Association and its Wiesbaden district association urgently appealed to the magistrate on Monday to keep the ball in the city.

No more grants from Wiesbaden

At the end of 2021, the coalition of Greens, SPD, Left and Volt that was emerging in Wiesbaden announced that it would cancel the previous municipal subsidy of almost 400,000 euros for the ball (FAZ of November 24, 2021), and also the new proposal by Franz found no approval.

Under the heading "No tax money for the sports ball", the Volt faction praised the decision of the magistrate, even if they were basically in favor of major events that were about economic development.

“Most people in Wiesbaden don't get anything from the sports ball.

That's why we are committed to financing exclusively through sponsors," said economic policy spokesman Achim Sprengard.

The CDU parliamentary group was "shocked"

that the magistrate voted against "this important charity event" despite an "adequate financing proposal".

“The fact that not even the mayor was able to assert himself against his own left-wing alliance casts a long shadow,” said Reinhard Völker, spokesman for economic policy for the Christian Democrats.

The CDU even put the added value for hotels, restaurants and retail in the city at around six million euros a year.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Sporthilfe is planning for the future.

The tendering process is currently underway to determine in which city the ball will be held from 2023.

According to Sporthilfe Managing Director Florian Dubbel, several cities have applied to host Germany's top athletes.

Dubbel did not want to say how many cities threw their hats in the ring.

But: According to him, cities outside of Hesse have also applied.

So it could well be that the ball leaves the Rhein-Main area for the first time.

The city of Frankfurt is definitely interested in bringing the ball back to the Main.

"We raised our finger," said Mark Gellert, spokesman for the Frankfurt Sports Department, and added: "We see ourselves as a city of sports."

Frankfurt has therefore started talks with Sporthilfe about the conditions under which the ball can be held.

However, no formal application has yet been submitted and there is still no corresponding decision by the magistrate, Gellert restricted.

The decision as to whether and when this will happen will be made in the coming weeks.

Mainz was also interested, but dropped out during the application process because there were conflicting dates with the carnival, as a spokesman for Mainzer Marketing & Tourismus confirmed.