New Estonian Record: Bigbank Supports Tartu Volleyball Club with €762,500
At the start of the new season, Bigbank signed a record-breaking title sponsorship agreement worth €762,500 with the Sports Club Duo for the next three years. This sponsorship will support both the Bigbank Tartu men's team and the University of Tartu/BIGBANK women's team, as well as, for the first time, the club's youth teams.
According to Hendrik Rikand, manager of the Sports Club Duo, this contract, worth more than three-quarters of a million euros, is a record not only for Estonian volleyball but is also one of the largest in the history of local sports. "Today, I can confidently say that the partnership with Bigbank has grown in both quantity and quality over time. Of course, this record contract places a clear responsibility on us to achieve something record-worthy over the next three years," Hendrik Rikand said emotionally while commenting on the agreement.
Head of Bigbank Estonia, Jonna Pechter, first congratulated the Bigbank Tartu men's team on their recent Baltic Supercup victory over the weekend. "A great win is always an excellent start to a new contract period. The city of Tartu is Bigbank's birthplace, and Tartu volleyball has been able to count on us for the past dozen years. From today, this partnership will expand even further, as the contract now also includes youth teams for the first time," commented Jonna Pechter. She added that the bank has supported Tartu volleyball players with nearly two million euros over the past twelve years, and this new agreement will significantly increase that amount.
Tartu's head coach for the men's team, Alar Rikberg, and the women's team head coach, Andrei Ojamets, confirmed that the primary goal for the upcoming season is the Estonian championship title. "With the men’s team, we'd also like to achieve a solid result in the European competition. It's a good feeling to approach a European match knowing that advancing to the next round brings only joy, and not, for example, worries about finding extra budget for plane tickets," Rikberg highlighted, emphasising the great advantage that strong financial backing provides for the team.
The record-breaking sponsorship agreement was announced today at a press conference in Tartu. Bigbank Tartu will start their league season on September 29 at the University of Tartu Sports Hall against Selver x TalTech, and their European matches will be held on October 16 and 17 in Tartu against the Ukrainian team VC Zhytychi-Polissya ZHYTOMYR. The women's team will begin their season on October 5 at home against the Lithuanian team Jonava.