Dietmar Hopp: everything changed for TSG Hoffenheim in the tiny village of Stebbach on 4 June 1989. Hoffenheim lost 4–2 after extra time to FC Stebbach and were relegated to the Kreisliga after a disastrous season. One of the roughly 1,000 spectators on that village pitch is said to have been Dietmar Hopp. A few days later, the future SAP giant’s co-founder invited club president and then team organiser Peter Hofmann to his office and announced that he wanted to support his beloved club.
Small shirt donations became major investments that eventually put the club back on its feet. Hopp’s money took the club through the Regionalliga and into professional football. Peter Hofmann later admitted: “Without Dietmar Hopp we would never have played in the second division, the Bundesliga or the Champions League.” Hopp invested around 350 million euros in the club, including the arena in Sinsheim and the training and club centre in Zuzenhausen.
