It’s not about games in Qatar, not about the Coca-Cola Bundesliga. That was never part of the considerations and that’s not what the tennis ball throwers care about.
The planned deal is nothing other than an investment in the future of the Bundesliga’s foreign marketing. You want more people around the world to watch the Bundesliga and you need a partner who can provide quick money and has a network, which increases the chances of growth in the target markets. The DFL is now simply afraid of not opening up potential markets – in the wake of ever-accelerating global developments. And conversely, leaving them to the competition (Premier League & La Liga). If we don’t market ourselves there, the British and the Spanish will do it and then they’ll end up making a lot more money than we do. Help. The danger that is seen is obvious: If the PL is marketed so blatantly worldwide at some point that it is just swimming in money, even mediocre PL clubs could easily outdo FC Bayern, for example, in salary or transfer negotiations and sooner or later, our top clubs would hardly have a chance internationally. The next Musiala might prefer to move to the PL because all the stars play there and you earn more and can win international titles. The PL will just be the “NBA” of soccer. At least that is the underlying fear and that is what is meant when they say “you have to invest now”. Global capitalist competition for whatever market share you can get.
If the others overtake us, everyone only watches La Liga and no one watches FC Bayern, then that’s it. But the stupid tennis ball throwers don’t understand that. The basic idea in the DFL will be something like this and that’s how you get it explained at DAZN in a casually arrogant arrogance by Freddy Bobic (when you actually just want to watch a little football).
But in my opinion, the tennis ball throwers are not just conservative ignorant people who close their minds to anything that might be new or useful. When such a crowd is against something, it’s always worth taking a closer look and asking yourself what the problem actually is.
a) The vote was not transparent and the Kind-96 conflict showed that the democratic decision of an entire association was decided here. That would have really pissed me off as a member of the 96 club (don’t worry, I’m not, haha). I understand the anger behind it, regardless of the content. Something like this creates fear and the feeling of no longer being heard or seen. And it creates anger.
b) The idea of the future in which the Bundesliga, as a sporting football competition, no longer has a chance of keeping up with other top leagues, may be a sad one. But at the moment it is nothing more than an idea. Dortmund can currently beat Newcastle. Eintracht Frankfurt is almost currently winning the Europa League. Or Bayern CL winner (3 years ago). Perhaps the idea of “we have to invest, otherwise we will soon be poor and bad” is nothing more than a fear that, like other bubbles, has nothing to do with reality. Be greedy when everyone’s fearful and be fearful when everyone’s greedy. Or so.
c) Maybe some of the fans simply feel that the whole Superstar Champions League nonsense doesn’t interest them that much. At least not as the only argument for watching football. And I personally understand that very well. I like watching good football and I also like watching the best in the world. But I also like watching Osnabrück play against Rostock. That’s because I’ve developed a kind of relationship with both clubs. And that’s because the club I love played against these clubs time and time again. Because I have been to both cities several times and know fans of theirs. Because I am “socially anchored” in German football, even if it doesn’t play a role internationally. By the way, no one in China or the USA will be interested in Braunschweig against Hannover at the moment (and if they do, it’s probably more because people from other cultures are be entertained by the fact that a few ultra groups want to smash each other’s heads, there is a bit of rioting and a helicopter and a few flares fly onto the pitch.) I’m not interested in a Belgian derby either. It’s not pure football, what makes these games interesting. It is the social anchoring. But this will not be lost even when there is no commercialism in the lower leagues. That is why there are football leagues all over the world with many spectators, even if most people know that their clubs are not international would have a chance to win a title. I also like watching the German BBL, although I know that no club would ever have a chance against the current NBA champs.
d) To take up the NBA comparison. Maybe the fan in Germany doesn’t want to be the NBA for the world. Maybe that doesn’t interest him at all. Maybe the fan in Cologne just wants to go to the stadium on Saturday and watch Cologne against Whoever and be happy if Cologne wins. And then go home happy.
Maybe a),b),c),d) are reasons why tennis balls fly. And maybe they are even justified. Maybe it’s a good thing that Blackstone dropped out, because that will give DFL officials something to think about: What is it really about? What do we really want? And what do the fans want?
By the way, you can read more about Blackstone here: https://www.faszination-fankurve.de/news/73336/ Werden-wir-nun-auch-teil-des-sportswashings-eines-wuestenstaats
Please, if anyone wants to make the case for growth and investors, I’m open to it. But really arguments please. “We have to invest now to remain competitive” is just as meaningless as saying “everything stays as it is, I don’t want a Coca-Cola Bundesliga”.