Tony Baffoe
Former Ghana deputy captain Tony Baffoe has been named as brand ambassador for the Bundesliga, which would be announced during the launch of the global “Bundesliga Legends Network”, this paper has gathered.
In his playing career, the former defender of Ghanaian origin played 199 games in the Bundesliga.
Baffoe, president of the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana (PFAG) is now part of a “team” of prominent figures from the Bundesliga’s history with which the Bundesliga is taking the next steps in its journey of internationalisation.
As members of the “Bundesliga Legends Network”, ex-Bundesliga players would be spreading the values and unique features of the Bundesliga all over the world and sharing their experiences of German professional football.
The “Bundesliga Legends Tours” with world-famous brand ambassadors like Germany’s most-capped player Lothar Matthäus have become firmly established in key target markets in recent years, helping to raise awareness of the Bundesliga and its clubs.
In future, the Bundesliga will expand its brand-ambassador activities with a group of “local heroes” who are teaming up to form the “Bundesliga Legends Network”.
They are all successful former players who enjoy legendary status in their homeland and are highly regarded.
To begin with, the “Bundesliga Legends Network” consists of nine ex-professionals whose popularity makes them ideal brand ambassadors for the Bundesliga in the key target markets of China (Jiayi Shao, Jörg Albertz), the USA (Steven Cherundolo), Mexico (Pavel Pardo), Ghana (Anthony Baffoe), Oceania (Wynton Rufer), South Korea (Bum-Kun Cha) and Brazil (Paulo Sergio).
As faces of the Bundesliga, these ex-players will be making several appearances, for instance at fan and media events, as coaches at football camps, at CSR events or as experts in various shows of partner broadcasters in order to boost the popularity of the Bundesliga globally, and especially in their respective homelands. “With only a very limited number of tickets and a worldwide fan base, our task is to bring the Bundesliga to its fans through other channels,” says Robert Klein, Chief Commercial Officer of Bundesliga International GmbH. “We believe that the hand-picked legends are ideally suited to being brand ambassadors, due to their outstanding achievements in the Bundesliga.
“The success story of the Bundesliga is really impressive. The league has always been known for its enthusiastic fans and the great atmosphere in the grounds, but the Bundesliga has made particularly huge strides in terms of nurturing young footballers,” says Anthony Baffoe. “I hope to do my bit to help pave the way for young African talents to play in the Bundesliga. The fast tempo, the athleticism and the technical standard of the Bundesliga makes the league attractive not just to players, but to TV audiences everywhere.”