First Bayer Sports Family matchday: Happy faces on and off the pitch

The first matchday at the BayArena for the Bayer Sports Family impressively demonstrated: Football, basketball, handball, volleyball, athletics and all other sports under the Bayer Cross are closely connected with each other.

During half-time in the Bundesliga match, Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, together with Klaus Beck (Chairman of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen) and Dr. Michael Preuss (Head of communications at Bayer AG) from the shareholders committee at Bayer 04 honoured the athletes of TSV Bayer 04 who had been successful this summer. Appreciation was shown to Konstanze Klosterhalfen, Lea Meyer, Jennifer Montag, Marco Brinkmann, Alexandra Ehler, Alexandra Ndolo, Taliso Engel, Maurice Wetekam, Irmgard Bensusan, Johannes Floors, Nele Moos, Markus Rehm and Léon Schäfer.

The Bayer Sports Family had a varied programme of events on and off the pitch ahead of the Bundesliga fixture. When the stadium opened two hours before kick-off, Bayer 04 fans on the concourse were able to get involved interactively with the different types of sports at TSV. The Black and Red supporters tried out judo, fistball and hula hoops. In addition, the mascots Brian the Lion (Bayer 04) and Paule (TSV Bayer 04) were out and about happy to pose for photos with adults and youngsters alike.

The Bayer sports clubs provided all the player escorts, banner and flagbearers on the home matchday against Darmstadt. The young athletes wore their own club kits representing a large number of different sports at TSV including boxing, fencing, judo, athletics, parasports. The main and shirt sponsor Barmenia went without the addition of the Barmenia name for this unique event for many TSV youth athletes. Many thanks for this generous gesture.

Ahead of the match, stadium announcer Pitti Dahl and her colleague Tobias Ufer interviewed the captains of the Werkselfen (handball) and Bayer Giants (basketball). To loud applause from the Werkself fans in the stands, the Giants, led by the long term Leverkusen basketball player and captain Dennis Heinzmann, stepped onto the pitch. Shortly after that they were followed by the Werkselfen led by captain Mareike Thomaier.

The BayerVolleys, currently preparing for the new season at a training camp in Cyprus, sent a video message from the Mediterranean to keep the flag flying for the Bayer Sports Family.

The Bayer Sports Family:

As part of the Bayer Sports Family, Bayer 04 are moving closer together to the Bayer sports clubs and Bayer AG. This historic connection is being revived with joint events like the Bayer Sports Family matchday and the Bayer Sports Family week.

Bayer 04 will provide updates on the different team and individual sports, for example with important competitions and events. And the athletes from the Giants, Werkselfen, Volleys and Co. will regularly be integrated into our reporting: From the Werkself Magazin via Werkself TV and the Bayer 04 app through to the social media channels with over ten million followers. The highlight is the content format Bayer Sports Family duel where Bayer 04 first team players compete against TSV Bayer athletes in their disciplines.

In addition, the Fußball GmbH, Bayer sports clubs and Bayer AG have plans for the future to further strengthen the partnership.