Ensuring the budget is an annual key issue for the club´s operation and, of course, that involves the maintenance of existing partners and the acquisition of new ones. One such new partner is the renowned Austrian insurance company Merkur. “Merkur Versicherung is a significant Austrian company with a long tradition and we are very proud to welcome it to our family of partners,” says Petr Bříza. “We were working hard to bring another major and significant partner for the coming season, and I´m glad we’ve done that,” the club boss adds.
Merkur Versicherung joins the group of existing major partners that includes Mastercard, Louda Auto, Sencor, PRE and Pražská plynárenská. “In cooperation with our partners, we are not just putting the logo on the jersey and meeting the terms and conditions,” says Bříza. “One of the reasons why we have long been working with strong and traditional companies is that our goal is always to develop partnerships and value-added cooperation.”
The Merkur Insurance Group was founded in 1798 and its core business is currently private health insurance. In addition, it is the world´s number one in prevention, as it supports its clients in a healthy lifestyle and practices the philosophy of prevention programs. As a matter of course, as with the club’s general partner BILLA ČR, it also supports Sparta’s youth hockey program.
“Merkur, as a health insurance company, has a great interest in promoting sports,” says Gerald Kogler, CEO of this major company. “Following the ongoing support of successful tennis players Karolína and Kristýna Plíšková, Merkur has decided to start working with the HC Sparta Prague ice hockey club,” he adds. Merkur Versicherung is not a newcomer to ice hockey, as the arenas in Graz and also in Říčany near Prague already bear the company’s name. Every year, it organizes summer hockey camps for Czech and Austrian children.
“Like HC Sparta Prague, one of the best hockey clubs with a rich history, Merkur is one of the leading insurance companies in its field. We appreciate club loyalty, youth work and support of sporting activities. We are very pleased to be a proud partner of HC Sparta Prague,” praises Kogler. The contract between Prague’s only Extraliga club and Merkur Versicherung was ceremoniously signed at Tuesday´s press conference in the centre of Prague and is valid for three years. At the same time, Sparta is now insuring all its youth players from the youngest to the members of its successful academy.