Berlin (dpa) – Politics is moving, the spectators are slowly returning to the stadiums – and yet football is sounding the alarm. After a good two years of the corona pandemic, the financial difficulties are causing existential fears in some places.
In addition, the European Football Union and the German Football League provided worrying figures. The pandemic has already cost European football around seven billion euros in lost revenue in the past two seasons. DFL boss Donata Hopfen writes in an article for the “Handelsblatt” about losses of 1.3 billion euros for German football in three Corona seasons.
In view of these numbers, the joint decision by the state and senate chancellery to allow up to 10,000 fans again in the future with a maximum occupancy rate of 50 percent at major events has more of an impact on the noise level in the arenas than on the empty accounts of the clubs.
Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann is happy about the return of the fans, but said that “there are still a bit too few at the moment”. And Hertha manager Fredi Bobic added: “This can only be the beginning, it has to go much, much faster.”
Not all clubs will be able to enjoy the easing at the weekend. While in North Rhine-Westphalia, where 1. FC Köln, Borussia Dortmund and Arminia Bielefeld had already taken legal action against the restrictions, the decision was immediately amended in the state’s Corona Protection Ordinance, other countries are taking more time.
In Lower Saxony, there will be a limit of 500 people for the time being. In Berlin and Baden-Württemberg, the changes will only be discussed next week. On Friday, Hertha BSC will again only welcome 3,000 people in the large Olympic Stadium against VfL Bochum, while VfB Stuttgart can let in 6,000 fans against Eintracht Frankfurt. For organizational reasons, FSV Mainz 05 is leaving it at 6800 people for the time being.
“I can no longer understand all of this. 15,000 spectators in Magdeburg, with us almost none, that’s illogical,” said Hanover’s professional football boss Martin Kind to “Sportbuzzer”. “People lose faith in the rules when they’re so inconsistent.”
The resistance in football is stirring after the league had supported the restrictions for almost two years without complaint. But looking beyond national borders makes the clubs fear that they will be left behind. Hop sees “in times of significantly fuller stadiums in England, France, Italy and Spain, massive effects on international competition”.
When the ball rolls again on Europe’s pitches at the weekend, the stadiums in England will be fully utilized again, as they have been throughout the season, despite the Omicron wave. Not to mention the TV contracts in the Premier League, which are already significantly higher. BVB sports director Michael Zorc calculates in the “kicker”: “If we turn over up to four million euros less per home game, it adds up – especially since we have already had two financial years that were heavily influenced by the corona pandemic.”
Zorc emphasizes that most clubs are not doing well economically. Cologne’s managing director Alexander Wehrle had recently reported that one was entering a phase that could not be endured for long economically. He therefore hopes “that this limitation to 10,000 fans will be the starting point for a dynamic development in the coming weeks”.
The urgent application submitted to the OVG Münster has been dealt with for the moment. The people of Bielefeld see it similarly – for the time being. “We are now waiting for the first time and are open to taking similar steps in the future if we believe that the regulations are no longer fair compared to other regulations,” said Arminia’s managing director Markus Rejek on Thursday.
After two years of being in a state of emergency, football longs for a return to normality. UEFA documented what the pandemic has done in its benchmarking report, a study of over 700 clubs from the 54 top leagues. After losses of around three billion euros in 2020, another four billion were added in 2021.
The largest losses resulted from the lower or missing ticket income during the pandemic in the amount of 4.4 billion euros. The sponsorship losses amounted to 1.7 billion euros, plus losses from the TV rights of around 900 million euros.
But it was also noted that despite the losses, player salaries in the clubs rose by an average of two percent per year during the pandemic. This item in the clubs’ balance sheets already accounted for 56 percent of income. For comparison: in 2013 only 42 percent of the revenue was used for player salaries. Many of those responsible are not yet aware of the seriousness of the situation.