Rheinmetall: Will BVB become an accomplice in the arms deal?

In France and England, entire football clubs belong to states that don’t care about human rights. In Germany, there is a huge outcry because an arms company is sponsoring a Bundesliga team. For the next three years, Düsseldorf-based arms manufacturer Rheinmetall will be Borussia Dortmund’s advertising partner. A reprehensible decision?

After all, three years ago the German government and the EU Commission wanted to put the arms industry on a par with pornography, tobacco and alcohol suppliers when it came to investments. In politics, times have changed.

The Rheinmetall logo on the stadium boards is now intended to finally make weapons socially acceptable. After years in the dingy corner, the arms company finally wants to increase its acceptance. But ethical criteria for investments should not change just because of the political situation, says an expert.

Will BVB become an accomplice in the arms trade?

For Michael Heumann, business ethicist and member of the ethics analyst team at the Swiss investment firm Arete Ethik Invest, the crucial question is whether BVB is now becoming an “accomplice in the arms business”. “Just because they have a business relationship with a weapons manufacturer doesn’t mean that they are acting morally reprehensible,” he said in an interview with Capital. “Nevertheless, I think the deal is extremely questionable. Having such a partner has to be justified ethically and I have not seen that so far.” Rather, fans and the public were presented with a fait accompli.

According to the ethical criteria of the Arete Ethik Invest commission, they would clearly rule out Rheinmetall for investment, explains Heumann. It is true that various ethical approaches can be used to find reasons for producing weapons, such as those that politicians are now taking up. “But we have decided not to follow this argument,” says Heumann. “Because weapons have an immediate potential for harm, even if there are requirements and controls on how and by whom the weapons are used.” This argument has been empirically refuted too often.

The players involved and politicians obviously see things differently. A Rheinmetall spokesman described the partnership to Capital as a “real turning point”. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) expressed himself similarly.

Listed BVB cannot leave money lying around

Borussia Dortmund simply could not refuse the large sum of money associated with the initially three-year deal. According to the “Handelsblatt”, Rheinmetall is to provide BVB with a single-digit million amount annually, making it one of the club’s biggest sponsors. In return, Rheinmetall will receive high-reach advertising space, marketing rights, and event and catering offers in the stadium and on Borussia’s club grounds. The joint slogan “Taking Responsibility” appeared on the advertising boards at BVB’s training ground on the Thursday before the Champions League final.

BVB is listed on the stock exchange and cannot simply leave revenues totaling around 20 million euros lying around. In his justification, managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke also tried to exaggerate the political aspects of the deal. In the official statement, he described security and defense as “elementary cornerstones of our democracy” that must be protected, especially today. “We should deal with this new normal.” BVB is “consciously opening itself up to a discourse.”

However, the club’s own fan and support department is said to have “expressed doubts about compatibility with Borussia Dortmund’s values” even before the collaboration was announced. The Protestant Church also sharply criticized the partnership. “Advertising for weapons companies has no place in stadiums,” said sports representative Thorsten Latzel. International tournaments in particular are about “peaceful international understanding.” Supporting Ukraine and strengthening European defense capabilities is something different to “normalizing” wars and weapons.

Rheinmetall wants to strengthen its perception as an “attractive employer”

As a Rheinmetall spokesman explained to Capital, the company is pursuing two main goals with its sponsorship: firstly, to make the brand better known at home and abroad and secondly, to “be perceived more strongly as an attractive employer”. “Even though the topic of security and defense is already more widely accepted today than it used to be, we are of course in tough competition for highly qualified workers, including internationally,” says the spokesman.

Rheinmetall obviously has a high demand for personnel; in 2023, the order backlog was 44 percent higher than the previous year. But the defense industry actually needs different employees now than it has previously attracted: above all female and younger specialists, who probably make up the minority of the football audience. The large platform that BVB is now offering Rheinmetall should therefore also send a signal internally, under the motto “We are somebody again”. Until 2022, the defense industry in Germany was at least publicly avoided by politicians and other social actors.

The defense supplier Renk from Augsburg was already involved in the Bundesliga before Rheinmetall. Renk has been a partner of FC Augsburg since the end of the 2022/23 season. Before the start of the last season, those involved also named recruiting staff and increasing “awareness and perception as an employer brand” as goals.

Does the financial sector also need to open up?

As the debate now shows, many fans still see things differently. However, the arms industry has gained enormous importance on the financial markets, as the share prices of Rheinmetall and Co. show. Before the Ukraine war, a Rheinmetall share cost less than 100 euros, but now it is more than five times as much. Many so-called sustainable ESG funds continue to exclude arms companies as a matter of principle.

Business ethicist Heumann finds this understandable. Even if the political situation has changed and sponsorships such as Rheinmetall’s for BVB are putting armaments more at the centre of society, investors do not have to change their attitude. “Just because of a current trend, you shouldn’t suddenly think armaments are a great thing,” he says. “You can open yourself up to the discussion and come to a different conclusion for good reason. But for now, the political and media debate doesn’t change anything.”

Whether the hustle and bustle will affect the team’s sporting performance will be seen on Saturday in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, as well as whether the fans will show their opposition on this occasion. The next opportunity would otherwise not be until the start of the new Bundesliga season and by then, at least that is what BVB will hope, tempers may have cooled down a bit.