Bundesliga

Goodbye “Big City Club”, but Hertha gets 100 million in help from investor 777

Published

2 weeks ago

March 13, 2023

Goodbye "Big City Club", but Hertha gets 100 million in help from investor 777

President Kay Bernstein of crisis club Hertha BSC is optimistic about the future of the club after the entry of the new investor 777 Partners. “This is a very good day for Hertha BSC. We are very happy and want to continue on the Berlin path, but be humble and focus on the essentials,” said Bernstein at the presentation of the new donor on Monday.

In the course of this, Bernstein also announced the end of the “Big City Club” – a term coined by the previous investor Lars Windhorst and ex-coach Jürgen Klinsmann. “We want to bury the label once and for all and end this megalomania,” said Bernstein. According to Bernstein, the new financier 777 is said to have been involved in the previous transfer phase and the dismissal of sports director Fredi Bobic.

The US investment company is taking over all shares in Hertha BSC GmbH & Co. KGaA that were previously owned by Windhorst and his company Tennor Holding (64.7 percent) – as confirmed by 777 CEO Josh Wander, the total investment volume is 100 Million Euros. The money is a “central component for the licensing”, said managing director Thomas E. Herrich. On Wednesday, Hertha have to submit the documents for the coming season to the German Football League (DFL).

“It’s an incredible moment to join this club with this great tradition,” said Wander, who spoke of a “long process”. Hertha is the seventh football club in which the Miami-based company invests – the Americans are already at Genoa FC in Italy, Vasco da Gama in Brazil, Standard Liège in Belgium, Red Star FC in France, Sevilla FC in Spain and Melbourne Victory FC involved in Australia.

The investment of the Americans is sorely needed for the Berliners. The club’s professional department closed the 2021/22 financial year with a minus of 79.75 million euros, and in previous years the Berliners have managed above their means – despite the 375 million euros that Windhorst had paid. “Everyone at the club has a longing to calm down,” said Bernstein.