“With the exception of my UFC contracts, this is the largest partnership I have ever entered into,” reveals Peter Sobotta, founder and owner of Planet Eater. He adds: “The fact that the members of my sports school and our competition team will in future be outfitted by the same supplier as the HBW Balingen-Weilstetten and traditional clubs such as the Stuttgarter Kickers or Waldhof Mannheim makes me very happy and proud.” The advance of trust that the uhlsport group has given and the opportunities that the partnership brings with it for the German martial arts scene are extremely important, the 38-year-old continues, “pretty much everyone on my team with whom I have spoken so far about the collaboration is really looking forward to it.”
Melanie Steinhilber, Managing Director/CMO of uhlsport GmbH, is also very positive about the step into a new sport: “With the cooperation between Kempa and the nationally known MMA gym Planet Eater, we are taking a consistent step in our promotion of martial arts. The collaboration with Peter Sobotta came about spontaneously and was characterized by great closeness and real partnership from the start. For us, this cooperation is a special sign of shared trust. In addition to our commitment to wrestling, we are strengthening one Sport that stands for discipline, respect and passion.”
In an interview with the Zollern-Alb-Kurier, Sobotta and manager Tim Grothaus, Head of Sponsoring & Promotion at uhlsport GmbH, talk about the new partnership, the reasons for the collaboration and the perspectives of the traditional Balinger company in the highly competitive MMA industry with the omnipresent UFC sponsor Venum.
Mr. Sobotta, this arrangement is extraordinary. How do you rate the collaboration with your quasi-neighbour from Engstlatt?
Peter Sobotta: The partnership with Kempa is an absolute milestone for us, which is incredibly valuable for us. Our sport comes more or less from the underground and had to struggle with a very bad image for a long time. We have long since taken the step out of the dirty corner, but it was still difficult to imagine that a renowned sporting goods manufacturer like uhlsport or Kempa would enter into cooperation with MMA gyms. This partnership is symbolic – it’s something really big for us as Planet Eater.
Your gym competes internationally at the highest level and has long been one of the best in Europe. It feels like this step comes a little too late…
Sobotta: Of course it would have been conceivable at an earlier point in time – but good things take time. We were busy with other things and also had a very, very good outfitter from Poland. We were very satisfied, but now it was simply time for a change – and we consciously chose a partner from the region.
Kempa has already successfully positioned itself in wrestling and is, among other things, equipping the DRB (German Wrestling Federation) by 2029. Now the partnership with the Balinger MMA Gym follows – a groundbreaking step in this area. Will you take us with you?
Tim Grothaus: I think that the martial arts market – and MMA in particular – is very competitive. You will no longer find a sport that is not widely used these days. There are far too many competitors for that. Comparisons can of course be drawn to HBW Balingen-Weilstetten and Kempa. Back then, we quickly established ourselves – including with the lighthouse national handball team. We’re taking a similar approach this time too, hoping for the appeal of Planet Eater with its top athletes who are internationally active. We have the opportunity to distribute this new brand with our distribution partners in the respective countries. This should work in a similar way: also through regional heroes who are also internationally active.
So far the range has been limited exclusively to the textile sector. Why not a complete range?
Sobotta: We decided to take this first step, which feels like a very big one. We deliberately limited ourselves to the textile range because Kempa’s and our quality standards are extremely high – and we didn’t want to rush to market with a product that wasn’t fully developed. The development of proper fist protection takes two to three years. However, we didn’t want to wait that long and decided on this approach. We are now starting a little smaller and will gradually add more products. Of course a kick-off with a complete range would have been better, but that wasn’t feasible.
Grothaus: The time with the initial contact with Planet Eater and the presentation at the beginning of December was too short to bring further products, such as gloves, onto the market. In technology we talk about ‘hardware’ and it takes several years before we bring a product to market. I like to remember the early years of Kempa, when, in my opinion, we launched handball shoes onto the market far too quickly. This image still weighs heavily on our stomachs today. Back then we weren’t good enough in the shoe sector. We want to go to market with mature products.
You are competing with big players. How do you rate the opportunity to establish the product range?
Sobotta: We are represented with our athletes on the biggest stages and thus have the opportunity to present this new Balingen brand nationally and internationally. As a first step, we don’t want to compare ourselves with Venum or Adidas, but we would like to spread ourselves quite quickly in German-speaking countries. Of course the competitors have a lead, but we have to get to this level first. Just like on the mat, this is a process that takes years. If you look at the power of Kempa and us, the potential is enormous. I was also in discussions with other possible partners, but in my opinion they cannot keep up with Kempa.
What is your approach to positioning the products accordingly?
Sobotta: We are very active in the social media area – I personally see very good opportunities to achieve reach. And: We want to present ourselves regularly in the region again. The aim is to organize a fight evening regularly in Balingen. Not as big as in previous years, but in a small, exclusive setting, especially for amateurs and young professionals. At the moment there is no stage for them to develop. We want to move into this gap. We have the right partner in Oskar Haak and want to start this series as soon as possible.
MMA primarily appeals to younger people – it cannot be classified as a team sport. In general, her clientele comes from this area. An exciting project…
Grothaus: The younger target group is very, very exciting for us. We want to come up with very, very good products that athletes appreciate. Tailor-made products for this sport.
Peter Sobotta has already suggested that this partnership was difficult to imagine for a long time. Did you have to do a lot of convincing?
Grothaus: We discussed these topics internally. The external representation of the sport is no longer comparable to the early years and the regulations in the cage make it a fair competition. This is martial arts – there are ‘bloody noses’. For us, the focus is on the athlete who trains hard and in a very disciplined manner. We also feel a great deal of respect between the athletes – and that also conveys our values.
