In the Bundesliga, various incidents with financiers provide a topic for discussion. Even the German Football League DFL feels compelled to intervene. Right in the middle is the 50+1 rule, which limits the influence of investors.
“It is important that I cannot be recalled in the next 100 years”, cheered Martin Kind last week. Shortly before, the district court in Hanover had decided that his dismissal as managing director of the outsourced professional company by the registered association was void. A success for Kind, who is also an investor in the professionals.
Nevertheless, he is only allowed to run the business under the premise that he follows the instructions of the Hanover Sports Association of 1896 eV. This situation regularly leads to conflicts because, according to the 96 board, Investor Kind, as the managing director of the professionals, does not follow instructions.
DFL: “Compatibility with the 50+1 rule clearly questioned”
However, this is a basic requirement for complying with the 50+1 rule in German football, according to the German Football League DFL in a letter to Martin Kind. This letter is also available to the sports show, which says verbatim:
“If this basic requirement is not met, so that the right to issue instructions is effectively in vain, the compatibility (…) with the 50+1 rule is clearly called into question“According to the DFL, there are corresponding consequences if they are disregarded.
Open dispute with Hertha investor
There was also an open confrontation at Hertha BSC. Investor Lars Windhorst is accused of having harmed the club’s former president with a targeted campaign. Windhorst rejects this. Since the club is now having this checked independently, Windhorst wants to sell its shares (64.7%) in the outsourced professionals.
Although Hertha has a right of first refusal, this step seems utopian when the coffers are tight. This is how sports director Fredi Bobic puts it rather sarcastically in the ZDF sports studio that he can only use it for 1 euro. Windhorst paid 375 million euros for this in 2019.
Hertha investor Lars Windhorst
How much can financiers have a say in?
These conflicts repeatedly revolve around the question of how much a sponsor can have a say in German football. The 50+1 rule limits this influence of investors and strengthens the democratic participation of members of the registered association. Investors like Kind or Windhorst, on the other hand, want to “have a say” about their investment.
for dr Sebastian Björn Bauers from the University of Leipzig therefore presents a diffuse picture of the situation. He has been researching 50+1 for years. “Imagine you are standing at a traffic light“He tries to clarify the current situation in an interview with the sports show.
“They are green and other drivers are still yellow. That harbors a high potential for danger. For investors, the traffic light is currently yellow – without knowing whether to drive or stop.”
As with Hannover 96 and Hertha BSC, where the investors hold the majority in the corporations of the professionals. However, they are not allowed to determine their investment, but the democratically elected association bodies continue to have the say. It is therefore not surprising that the current structure of 50+plus1 encourages conflicts of interest, Bauer concludes.
More than half of the Bundesliga with investors
Despite the 50+1 rule, ten (!) Bundesliga clubs now have investors. The best known are the so-called works clubs: Bayer 04 Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg and TSG Hoffenheim either belong to a group behind them or to an individual investor. This is made possible by an exceptional permit, which allows a club to be taken over after 20 years of uninterrupted funding of a considerable amount. Next, this could be used in 2029, for example, by Rasenballsport Leipzig, which was founded by a beverage manufacturer and has received considerable financial support from the start.
Although all the clubs mentioned formally comply with 50+1, they have come under pressure as a rule due to a preliminary assessment by the Federal Cartel Office. Because the German competition authority sees the influence of the parent club reduced to “zero” in these clubs. And therefore calls for appropriate proposals from the DFL that change this current situation.
Hoffenheim investor Dietmar Hopp
Solutions for investor engagement?
In addition, FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Augsburg and VfB Stuttgart have external sponsors in addition to the already mentioned Hertha. However, these clubs have not yet come into open confrontation with investors. For clubs that want to position themselves clearly with regard to the 50+1 rule, Sebastian Björn Bauers recommends anchoring the rule in the club’s statutes.
On the one hand, it is conveyed to the members that their involvement is desired: “On the other hand, the anchoring of the rule indicates that investors do not want a dominant influence“At Hannover 96 and Hertha BSC, however, this proposal will not be able to avoid further confrontations with investors. At least at Hannover 96, the DFL will take a closer look from now on whether 50+1 is still valid there – or not.