future of the Bundesliga
The top of the German Football League (DFL) has defended the plans for an investor to get involved against criticism. At a discussion event organized by the alliance “Südtribüne Dortmund” and the board of the BVB fan department on Monday evening in the stadium of the second Bundesliga club, DFL supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke and DFL managing director Axel Hellmann campaigned for a fresh injection of capital by a strategic partner.
Watzke tried to allay the fans’ fears that an investor would have too much influence, for example in the design of the schedule. “I haven’t been fighting for the 50+1 rule for years to now let in a Trojan horse. We definitely don’t want any more kick-off times,” said the BVB managing director. Hellmann became even clearer: “The concern that the match day will be fanned out is theoretical. We could do that now. But we don’t do it because there is a football culture in Germany. There will never be a game day spread.”
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In the past few weeks, many soccer fans at Bundesliga games have made it clear that they reject the entry of an investor. “With this construct, there are a lot of fears and concerns among the fans. It’s about classic topics such as match day schedules and venues,” commented Jakob Scholz, chairman of the BVB fan department.
The plan provides for the future investor to acquire 12.5 percent of the marketing of the national and international Bundesliga media rights for a period of 20 years. The deal is intended to bring fresh capital of around 2 billion euros to the league, 85 percent of which is to flow into earmarked investments in future fields and to strengthen the stability of the DFL. Only 15 percent of the total – around 300 million euros – should be given to the 36 clubs for free use. The DFL sees a lot of catching up to do, especially in international marketing, and the competing leagues from England, Spain and Italy are ahead.
In two rounds of talks with the club representatives on May 12th and 15th, the concept developed in the past few months will be discussed and the offers of the possible strategic partners will be presented. At the extraordinary DFL general meeting on May 24, the clubs will decide whether further negotiations with individual interested parties will take place on the basis of the selected offers. A two-thirds majority is required to implement the plan. If this is achieved, the process could be completed by mid-July.
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