Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has promised basketball fans of the promoted German BBL league club two more “rocket” signings by July 21 when the official team presentation takes place with Robin Benzing being rumored as next addition while the signing of Dirk Nowitzki could also be done if the chance arises.
July 21 will be a big day for Bayern Munich as not only will the new team for the 2011-12 season be presented but the club’s new home – the Rudi Sedlmayer Halle – will be given a new name and the team’s new jersey sponsor will be introduced.
Bayern definitely need to put together some big money as renovations for the Rudi Sedlmayer Halle are running in the 4 million euro range and Hoeness has promised about another 7 million euro for the team budget for the season.
After already locking up new acquisitions Philipp Schwethelm and Ben Hansbrough, the next name connected with Bayern is German international Robin Benzing. The small forward’s contract with ratiopharm Ulm expires on July 1 and he has already been spotted at the Munich Allianz Arena watching a Bayern Munich football match with German national team and Bayern Munich basketball coach Dirk Bauermann. Benzing’s agent also used to be Marko Pesic, who left his basketball agent company when he signed as Bayern’s sports personnel director.
Hoeness told German media that the signing of German superstar and NBA champion Dirk Nowitzki is not really an issue at the moment. “That is not planable. We don’t need to talk about unlaid eggs,” said the Bayern boss, who added: “Naturally we would very much like to see Dirk here. And if we had the opportunity we would also get it done.”
The NBA announced late June 30 that it was locking out its players, meaning there is a possibility that Nowitzki could play in Germany. The Mavericks star is currently on vacation.
Bayern also recognized that it aggravated its fans base when they did not include a rebate for school children and students when they announced their seating prices for the 2011-12 season. The club has since said school children, students and youths 17 years and under would receive a 30 percent discount on tickets.
“We made a mistake,” said Hoeness in the TZ Munich daily. “With this, we are rectifying it. We want to have a lot of people from the university here. Category 4 tickets cost 10 euro, reduced 7 euro, you can’t really complain about that. For 7 euro you can’t even go to the movies nowadays. And we are offering first class entertainment in a great atmosphere.”
Bayern would like to average 6,000 fans in the stadium this season including “at least” 3,000 season tickets according to Hoeness. It’s been reported that 1,000 have already been sold.
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