Debate divides federal leagues
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Bochum’s managing director Ilja Kaenzig doesn’t think much of neighbors FC Schalke 04’s ideas when it comes to distributing TV money. The Gelsenkircheners want a higher share of the income for clubs with greater audience interest, but Kaenzig told the newspapers of the “Funke Media Group”: “Then the sporting aspect would be left out. And that shouldn’t happen.”
The Bochum boss added: “What should SC Freiburg say, for example? It’s a comparatively small club, but it does an outstanding job.” Kaenzig warned that “if we leave the solidarity community, then everyone will lose in the end.” The following applies to the Bochum team: “We defend ourselves (…) against clubs depending on the current situation Sometimes demand this and sometimes that.”
Second division club Schalke has long wanted the appeal of traditional clubs with many fans to be given greater weight when distributing money. After concluding the new contract for the 2025/26 to 2028/29 seasons with a volume of 4.48 billion euros, CFO Christina Rühl-Hamers said: “Now it will be a matter of finding a fair distribution key that will ensure the future viability of the DFL and strengthens clubs.”
CFO Eric Huwer from the second division club Hamburger SV also advocated for greater consideration of traditional clubs in the debate about the distribution of TV money. “In no other top European league are issues such as stadium occupancy, subscriptions, brand reach or participation in top evening games given as little consideration as in Germany,” the 41-year-old told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “The ‘interest’ pillar is being taken into account for the first time since the last distribution debate. At the current level, it’s more of a fig leaf.” At the same time, Huwer spoke out in favor of the fact that sporting performance should continue to be given strong consideration and rewarded.
TV money: Also Mainz 05 against Schalke approach
Sports director Christian Heidel from Bundesliga club Mainz 05 also worked for Schalke for almost three years, but still believes the current distribution of TV money is fair. “If football is no longer about performance, the alarm bells must ring,” he said in an interview with the “Frankfurter Rundschau” and the “Frankfurter Neue Presse”. “I can certainly understand that Schalke and other traditional clubs from the 2nd league would like the column that distributes TV revenue according to interest to be five times larger. But the 2nd league gets a big goodie from the first division teams with 20 percent of the proceeds, despite a much smaller share of the income from TV money.”
HSV finance chief Huwer himself admitted that the distribution of TV money was not the reason why his club had already missed the Bundesliga return six times in a row. “We are self-critical enough to know that we have not failed to rise in the last six years because of the distribution of TV money,” he said. “We could have done that with the current distribution key.”