Berlin, Jan 23 (IANS) Logistics tycoon Klaus-Michael Kuhne has bought 7.5 percent of German football club Hamburg’s shares and with it the naming rights to the team’s home stadium.
Hamburg will rename their home stadium for the third time in 14 years, after carrying different sponsor names, reports Xinhua.
The stadium will be renamed Volksparkstadion, the original name in 1953, from July 1, 2015.
In July of 2001, the Volksparkstadion was renamed to AOL Arena before it was changed to HSH Nordbank Arena in July of 2007. Three years later it was changed again to Imtech-Arena.
With the investment, Kuhne secured also the naming rights for four years. The 77-year-old HSV investor announced Thursday to change the name to Volksparkstadion as it was named before 2001.
“As a true Hamburger SV supporter it is matter of the heart to give our stadium the original name again. I hope that our team can return to previous successes in the Volksparkstadion,” Klaus-Michael Kuhne said.
Hamburg currently sit in 14th place of the Bundesliga standings. They host newly promoted Cologne for their opening game of the second half of the season Jan 31.