Pokerstars signs up to sponsor Schleswig-Holstein stadium

Wednesday,  November 30 ,2011 :  ONLINE POKER GIANT SPONSORS GERMAN FOOTBALL TEAM
 
Pokerstars signs up to sponsor Schleswig-Holstein stadium
 
Schleswig Holstein, the most liberal and progressive German state (at least as far as online gambling is concerned) has attracted another internet gambling company sponsorship following Bwin.party.digital's recent deal with the THW Kiel handball team
 
In the latest initiative by an online gambling firm targeted on the internet gambling-friendly lander (province) PokerStars has won the naming rights for Stadion an der Lohmühle, Lübeck, home of the VfB Lübeck fourth division soccer club. The facility has a capacity of almost 18,000 football fans and will officially be branded PokerStars.de – Stadion an der Lohmühle.
 
In September this year Schleswig-Holstein legalised online poker after splitting with the other 15 monopoly-minded German states and developing its own European Commission approved regulations.
 
The Pokerstars deal runs initially until 2013 with an option for a three year extension, a company spokesman revealed, adding that a payment of Euro 120,000 each season was payable to the club.
 
“We will consider further sponsorship opportunities in Schleswig-Holstein," he said.
 
There has been some early criticism from German politicians, among them the Green Party's Monika Heinold who complained that online poker legalization was not yet in force.