Dragons Rhöndorf

What Dragons Rhöndorf does

Dragons Rhöndorf is a semi-professional basketball club competing in the ProB Süd division of the 2. Basketball Bundesliga (BARMER 2. BBL), based in Bad Honnef, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The club traces its origins to the Rhöndorfer TV, founded in 1912, and operates a dual legal structure consisting of Dragons Rhöndorfer 1912 e.V., the registered member association, and Dragons Rhöndorf Marketing GmbH, the economic vehicle that runs the professional Bundesliga operations. The club is governed by 1. Vorsitzender Jannik Müller, with Johannes Sünner as Geschäftsführer of the e.V. and Klaus Beydemüller as Geschäftsführer of the Marketing GmbH; the team is coached by Head Coach Max Becker, who concurrently serves as Assistant Coach at Telekom Baskets Bonn under the Bonn-Rhöndorf cooperation.

The organization's core product is its ProB roster and home matchday experience delivered at the DragonDome (Menzenberger Sporthalle, Bad Honnef), complemented by season tickets (Dauerkarten), single-game ticketing through the Vivenu platform, an official fanshop (dragons-basketball-shop.de), live streaming via Sporteurope.TV, and a portfolio of youth programs including the Grundschulliga and seasonal camps for ages 6-15. Revenue is generated through three principal streams: ticket sales and season passes, corporate sponsorship (anchored by Hitachi Energy as Hauptsponsor with secondary partners BARMER, Wilson, BIG Basketball, Kreissparkasse Köln, and Schloss Hagerhof), and merchandise. Distribution is primarily regional (Rhein-Sieg-Kreis and Bonn area) via the club's own digital channels and the league-level Sporteurope.TV streaming layer.

The Bonn-Rhöndorf cooperation with Telekom Baskets Bonn is the defining strategic feature of the business model, functioning as a dual-licensing talent pipeline that channels young players through ProB-level development toward the Bundesliga. The club markets to local basketball fans and families, regional corporate sponsors seeking community visibility, and youth players and their parents; volunteer and member participation through the registered association underpin the operating model rather than private equity or external capital. With 9 listed employees and ongoing DragonDome renovations constraining ticket capacity for 2026/27, the organization operates at a small but structurally distinctive scale within German second-tier basketball.

Name

Dragons Rhöndorf

Legal name

Dragons Rhöndorf Marketing GmbH

Website

https://dragons.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1912

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Dragons Rhöndorf is a community-owned semi-professional basketball club in Bad Honnef, Germany, competing in the ProB Süd (2. Basketball Bundesliga). It serves regional fans via matchday, ticketing, merchandise, youth camps, and a talent-development cooperation with Telekom Baskets Bonn.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Sports / Basketball Club

NAICS

Sports Teams and Clubs (711211)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Basketball Leagues (MPAKAAAD)

Keywords

• Professional basketball club
• Youth basketball development
• Sports ticketing services
• Team merchandise sales
• Basketball training camps

Headquarters

HQ city

Bad Honnef

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue from individual game tickets and season passes (Dauerkarten) sold through the club's website and vivanu ticketing platform.
2. Sponsorship: Corporate sponsorship deals including main sponsor Hitachi Energy, and other partners like Barmer, Wilson, and BIG Basketball. Sponsors receive jersey visibility, teamwear branding, and event exposure.
3. Merchandise Sales: Fan shop sales including merchandise, apparel, and basketball equipment through the Dragons Basketball Shop.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Dragons Rhöndorf is a semi-professional basketball club competing in the ProB Süd division of the 2. Basketball Bundesliga, the second tier of professional basketball in Germany. The club delivers live professional basketball entertainment at its DragonDome arena in Bad Honnef, sells single-game tickets (via Vivenu) and season passes (Dauerkarten), operates an official fan merchandise shop, and runs youth basketball development programs (Grundschulliga, summer, Easter and New Year camps) in cooperation with Telekom Baskets Bonn.

Product overview

Dragons Rhöndorf is a professional basketball club competing in the ProB division of the 2. Basketball Bundesliga. The organization operates as a unified portfolio combining the core basketball team, venue operations (DragonDome), ticketing services (via Vivenu and season tickets), official merchandise (Fanshop), youth development programs (Grundschulliga, summer/holiday camps), and digital streaming services (Sporteurope.TV). The club maintains a cooperation with Telekom Baskets Bonn for talent development, with the Dragons serving as a development platform for players aiming for Bundesliga-level basketball.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dragons Rhöndorf Basketball Team (ProB)

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Telekom Baskets BonncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Strategic cooperation between Dragons Rhöndorf and Telekom Baskets Bonn for basketball talent development. The partnership includes dual-licensing (Doppellizenz) allowing players to develop in ProB while being integrated into the Bundesliga organization. Max Becker serves as both Head Coach of Dragons Rhöndorf and Assistant Coach at Telekom Baskets Bonn. The cooperation provides a clear development pathway from youth basketball through ProB to Bundesliga level.
• Hitachi EnergyflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Hitachi Energy is the main sponsor (Hauptsponsor) of Dragons Rhöndorf. The partnership, starting for the 2025/26 season, includes jersey branding, teamwear visibility, and various other marketing activations around Dragons games. Hitachi Energy's Bad Honnef plant (acquired in 2024) is a major local employer with ~430 employees, and the sponsorship reflects the company's commitment to regional community engagement.
• BARMERminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025BARMER is a health insurance company and sponsor of the 2. Basketball Bundesliga league, with branding on league communications and game broadcasts.
• WilsonminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Wilson is the official basketball supplier for Dragons Rhöndorf, providing game balls and equipment.
• BIG BasketballminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025BIG Basketball is a sponsor and partner of Dragons Rhöndorf, appearing on website banners.
• Schloss HagerhofminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Schloss Hagerhof GmbH, a private school in Bad Honnef, provides facilities for Dragons events and sponsors activities. The school has historical ties to local basketball through its founder Michael Wichterich, a former professional player.
• Kreissparkasse KölnminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Kreissparkasse Köln sponsors the Dragons' Easter basketball camp (Ostercamp), providing youth development support.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• SparkassenStars Bochum: ProB basketball club based in Bochum (NRW) with a similar small-market, community-anchored model. Comparable to Dragons on regional catchment, semi-professional scale, and youth program emphasis.
• Bayer Giants Leverkusen: Historic German basketball club competing in ProB with a strong youth-development tradition and corporate-sponsor backing (Bayer). Comparable to Dragons as a ProB club with a dual focus on community identity and talent development for higher tiers.
• Itzehoe Eagles: ProB Nord basketball club operating from a small-town catchment in Schleswig-Holstein. Highly comparable to Dragons as a semi-professional basketball club drawing ticket, sponsor, and merchandise revenue from a regional community.
• Phoenix Hagen: German basketball club with ProB/ProA pedigree and a strong regional sponsor ecosystem. Comparable to Dragons as a mid-sized basketball organization competing in the second/third tier with a community-based fan and sponsor model.
• Wiha Panthers Schwenningen: ProB Süd basketball club competing in the same division as Dragons Rhöndorf. Direct peer for league table position, sponsor pricing comparisons, and attendance benchmarks within the 2. Basketball Bundesliga.
• Telekom Baskets Bonn: Top-tier German basketball club (BBL) and the strategic partner of Dragons Rhöndorf under the Bonn-Rhöndorf cooperation. Most directly comparable because the two organizations share coaching personnel (Max Becker) and a formal talent-development pipeline; Bonn is the apex of the same developmental pyramid in which Dragons operates.
• Rhein Stars Köln: ProB basketball club based in Cologne, NRW — the same regional market and league as Dragons Rhöndorf. Closely comparable in tier, geography, and target market (regional basketball fans), making it a direct competitive peer for sponsors, fans, and talent in the Rheinland.

Broad incumbents

• Rhein-Neckar Löwen: Established top-tier German handball club with a comparable semi-professional sports-club structure: regional catchment, strong sponsor portfolio (including main corporate partners), youth academy, and ticketing/merchandise operations. Useful benchmark for sponsorship economics and youth-development scaling at the semi-pro level.
• ALBA Berlin: Top-tier German basketball club (BBL/EuroLeague) with a renowned youth academy (ALBA Jugend) that produces Bundesliga and national-team talent. Comparable to Dragons as a German basketball organization with a strong youth-development identity, although operating at materially larger scale.

Regional players

• Eisbären Bremerhaven: ProA basketball club based in Bremerhaven with a comparable regional, small-market basketball identity and sponsor mix. Relevant peer for understanding ProB-to-ProA promotion economics and the trade-off between small-market stability and higher-tier ambition.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dragonsrhoendorf
• Instagraminstagram.com/dragonsrhoendorf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dragons-rhoendorf

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dragons Rhöndorf