Three investors are still in the running to become investors in the German Football League. The favorite is already an indirect partner of the DFL. There are also connections to FC Schalke 04.
Everything should happen pretty quickly now. On December 11th, the entry of an investor was approved by the clubs with the narrowest possible majority, and a good week later private equity companies that were considered for the deal were screened out. CVC, Blackstone and EQT are still in the running. This was confirmed to the sports show by club circles. Furthermore, it was said that CVC was the favorite.
CVC operates with money from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund
The advantage of CVC, apart from a satisfactory bid of around one billion euros, is the know-how that the company brings to the table. The company CVC, which, among other things, buys investments with millions from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF, is already involved in football in the French Ligue 1 and the Spanish La Liga. The Luxembourg-based company is also involved in rugby, tennis and volleyball.
Already in May, when the necessary majority to start concrete negotiations with possible investors was missed, CVC was considered the favorite. CVC has long been indirectly involved in German football, as the company has held 60 percent of “Tipico” since 2016. The betting provider has been a “platinum partner” of FC Bayern since 2015 and became a sponsor of the DFL three years later.
Due to this connection and a new regulation of gambling, “Tipico” also acts as a sponsor partner of the sports show.
Possible Conflicts of interest on several levels
Almost every one of the 36 clubs in the DFL has a sponsor from the sports betting sector, even if fans protest against it and the Federal Government Commissioner for Addiction and Drug Issues took over the patronage of the “Alliance against Sports Betting Advertising” founded in 2022.
The “premium partner” of FC Schalke 04 is the company “Betway”. The contract with the sports betting provider is valid until June 30, 2024. This will lead to further conflicts of interest, which primarily affect the second division team from the Ruhr area, but also the DFL.
Schalke Chairman of the supervisory board joins DFL sponsor
They primarily affect Axel Hefer, chairman of the supervisory board of FC Schalke 04 since 2021. He will “work for Tipico in a managerial position next year”.
Hefer told the sports show. In the future, he will control the fortunes of a company that is majority owned by an investment company, which should have the best chance of sharing in the DFL’s proceeds in the future.
“In principle, conflicts of interest can arise in every job and in every industry. It is important that possible conflicts of interest are made transparent to the committees, especially the board of directors and the supervisory board, and that one abstains from the corresponding votes,” says Hefer.
The statutes of the DFL state that Hefer works on the board of a sponsor and at the same time heads the Schalke control committee. Reason: The club from Gelsenkirchen is not represented in any committee that decides on sponsorship contracts at the DFL, such as the executive committee.
When asked by the sports show whether he wanted to remain chairman of the Schalke supervisory board despite his job at “Tipico”, Hefer answered “yes”.
First against Schalke, now for an investor
Schalke 04 is one of the clubs that changed their voting behavior when asked about an investor. In May the registered association voted against entry, on December 11th it was in favor. Official reason: The new plan no longer provides for direct payments to the clubs, which, in Gelsenkirchen’s opinion, would have been distributed to their disadvantage.
Schalke has been advocating for years that so-called fan-intensive clubs should receive more money because they contribute more to the value of the product. When the supervisory board voted on whether Schalke should vote for entry on December 11th, he abstained because of the possible conflict of interest, said Hefer.
At the DFL general meeting in a Frankfurt airport hotel, Christina Rühl-Hamers cast her vote for Schalke 04. She is responsible for finances on the board, which currently only has two members, and will remain so when Matthias Tillmann becomes chairman of the board from January 1st. Until then, Tillmann will still be responsible for finances at Trivago, a company that primarily makes money with a search engine for hotels. Although he does not yet have an official position, Tillmann took part in the DFL general meeting. When asked, Schalke said he was “properly registered”, and the DFL confirmed that he was present as a “guest”.
In the commercial register extract from December 22, 2023, the stock corporation “Trivago” is listed with a second board member: Axel Hefer. The company is also listed in the lobby register of the German Bundestag with the two authorized representatives Hefer and Tillmann. “Trivago” announced in May 2023 that Hefer was leaving the company with immediate effect. According to the head of the Schalke supervisory board, this is also correct: “I resigned from the board in May.” Since then there has been no longer any employment relationship.
First together on the board, now controller
To explain why he is still listed in the commercial register as a member of the board and in the lobby register of the German Bundestag as an authorized representative, Hefer said that the change had already been registered in the Netherlands and was also relevant because the stock corporation “Trivago” had its headquarters there. The changes in Germany are still being made.
According to the statutes, board members at Schalke are appointed, dismissed and also monitored by the supervisory board. In this respect, Hefer and his committee will in future control a board boss with whom he has had close ties for years. Many of the club’s fans found this bitter in October when Tillmann’s appointment as CEO was announced.
“I don’t see a conflict in that”
“I see a good relationship between the chairman of the board and the chairman of the supervisory board as important and beneficial. I don’t see a conflict in this, since the board is not controlled by me alone, but by the eleven-member supervisory board,” said Hefer.
He also sees the fact that he will be working for a company that is in competition with the current sports betting sponsor as a problem: “If, after negotiations with the existing Schalke partner Betway, there is a vote on a possible continuation of the cooperation “If this were to happen, I would of course abstain from this vote. But of course this also applies to all other members of the Supervisory Board who would have to make decisions about competitors in similar situations.”