Nürnberg Ice Tigers

History

The team's origins trace back to SG Nürnberg, an ice hockey club that competed in the 2nd Bundesliga from 1958 until financial difficulties forced its closure in 1980. Later that year, the current organization was founded as EHC Nürnberg 1980 e.V., a non-profit entity. It began play in the 1980–81 season in the Bavarian state ice-hockey league, moved up to the Southern Regional League after one season, and was promoted again in 1983 to the 3rd-tier German Ice Hockey League. By 1987, the club had reached the 2nd Bundesliga.

In the early 1990s, financial instability in German professional ice hockey led to the creation of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, modeled after the NHL to provide stability through licensing and franchising. On 13 June 1994, EHC Nürnberg 1980 was admitted as one of six 2nd Bundesliga teams to become a founding member of the DEL, effectively earning a promotion to the highest level. In the DEL's inaugural season, the team finished 12th in the regular season and was eliminated in the first playoff round.

The following season, the professional team was separated from the non-profit organization and incorporated as the Nürnberg Ice Tigers, while the youth and amateur sides retained the old name. In the 1998–99 DEL season, the Tigers finished first in the regular season but lost the playoff finals to Adler Mannheim. In 2006, a three-year naming rights agreement with Bionorica AG renamed the team the Sinupret Ice Tigers for the 2006–07 season.

During the 2008–09 season, the Ice Tigers faced severe financial trouble, filing preliminary insolvency on 25 November 2008, which was officially declared on 30 December. Bionorica withdrew its sponsorship in March 2009. An investor group led by local jeweler Thomas Sabo intervened on 3 April 2009, preventing bankruptcy and securing the team's participation in the 2009–10 season. The team was known as the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers for eleven years until April 2020, after which it reverted to the Nürnberg Ice Tigers.