Hundreds of thousands to BVB
Gigantic fan avalanche rolls towards Dortmund
May 23, 2023, 7:32 p.m
Dortmund could become the German football capital for the first time since 2012 on the Pentecost weekend. If Borussia wins the title, hundreds of thousands of fans are expected in the Revierstadt. The demands on the police are high.
Dortmund could become the biggest party mile in Germany at Pentecost. In the event of a home Borussia success on Saturday (3.30 p.m. / Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) about FSV Mainz 05, which would give the club its ninth football championship, a four-hour motorcade through the Revierstadt is planned for the day after. According to Dortmund police chief Gregor Lange, “at least 200,000” fans are expected to attend the possible spectacle with the lap of honor around the iconic Borsigplatz.
Before the parade, which would start at 12.09 p.m., the team should sign the city’s golden book. “We’re more or less assuming that the team won’t let anything burn and that we can all celebrate together on Sunday,” said Mayor Thomas Westphal when presenting the party plans in Dortmund.
Demand for tickets is immense
Similar to the previous Borussia championship celebration in 2012, when more than 400,000 visitors celebrated in the city, the demands on the police are high. “We are strong, we are looking forward to the challenges and have prepared conscientiously,” said Lange and appealed to the fans: “Behave peacefully. Everyone has the chance to show Dortmund as a positive location.”
The demand for tickets for the sold-out game against Mainz is immense. “We could have sold 300,000 tickets,” said BVB head of organization Christian Hockenjos. Despite the many fans who didn’t find a ticket when looking for a ticket, there will be no public viewing offer in the city on Saturday. Media interest is just as great. There are 800 accreditation applications for the 192 seats in the press gallery.
FC Bayern plans just in case
One day before the last game of the season, BVB is two points ahead of FC Bayern at the top of the table. At the same time, the Munich team play in Cologne and have to hope for a blunder from Dortmund. Despite the poor starting position, FC Bayern is also planning just in case and is still hoping for the eleventh German soccer championship in a row. The people of Munich would celebrate the day after the Bundesliga final on Pentecost Sunday at Marienplatz. The footballers want to cheer there if they win the title. According to “Bild”, the club is planning an internal celebration in the “Motorworld” in Munich’s Freimann district, regardless of the outcome of the 34th matchday on Saturday.
In view of the special constellation, the pay-TV broadcaster Sky is expanding its offer for the last matchday and will be showing an additional conference on the championship decision on Saturday. In addition to the conference with all nine games, according to the broadcaster, there is also a broadcast with the games of Bayern Munich in Cologne and Borussia Dortmund against Mainz. The presentation of the match day comes from the Dortmund stadium and not from the studio in Unterfoehring as is usually the case.