Donata Hopfen is no longer CEO of the German Football League (DFL). This is the result of a supervisory board meeting.
Donata Hopfen is no longer CEO of the German Football League (DFL). This was announced by the DFL after a supervisory board meeting chaired by Hans-Joachim Watzke on Wednesday (December 7th, 2022). “I am grateful for the time and the work with the clubs and my team. I leave knowing I’ve started the right things.”, hops are quoted in a statement from the DFL. Their supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke thanked “for their great commitment and the intensive months in which we worked together in a spirit of trust“.
“Kicker” was the first to report on the forthcoming replacement of hops. This coincided with information from the sports show, according to which there had been considerations for some time to replace hops. The search for a successor is said to have started weeks ago.
| person | club |
|---|---|
Hans Joachim Watzke | Borussia Dortmund |
Oliver Leki | Sc freiburg |
Fredi Bobic | Hertha BSC |
Rudiger Fritsch | Darmstadt 98 |
Stephan Schippers | Bor. M’gladbach |
Ralph Huschen | SC Paderborn |
Hopfen took over the position as CEO and spokeswoman for the Executive Committee on January 1, 2022, and her contract ran until December 31, 2024. Hopfen’s predecessor was Christian Seifert, who had led the DFL since 2005. At the end of his time at the DFL, he was publicly perceived primarily as a successful crisis manager in the pandemic with its ghost games.
Discussions about Saudi Arabia, problems with foreign marketing
Hopfen attracted public discussion when she hinted at moving the DFL Supercup to Saudi Arabia, which she only later retracted. The discussion about playoffs for the Bundesliga also remained controversial. She was also accused of making statements about digitization and innovation. It was about tests for interviews during the game with the rope camera. Most recently, Hopfen campaigned for the sale of DFL shares to external investors.
Will it continue permanently with dual leadership?
In the case of successor management, a dual leadership in the management of the DFL could be a permanent option.
According to information from the sports show, several clubs are in favor of leaving the tasks of a sports-political nature to one person and entrusting a second person with rights marketing, digitization and similar topics.
DFL facing important future issues
The DFL has numerous tasks to deal with:
- 50+1: The Bundeskartellamt found the rule to be in line with competition in principle, but criticized the exceptions for Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg and TSG Hoffenheim. They have to propose a solution. The problem dates back to Seifert’s time, but has still not been resolved. A solution would be important in view of the upcoming licensing process, which begins on March 15, 2023.
- TV rights domestic: The next rights cycle for TV rights in Germany begins in the 2025/26 season, and the tender is scheduled to take place in spring 2024. Here, too, framework conditions must be defined with the cartel office.
- Basic contract with the DFB: The document regulates mutual rights and obligations between the DFB and DFL, the current agreement expires on June 30, 2023. This also includes financial donations to the DFB for the amateur sector, but also other taxes such as sports jurisdiction or refereeing. The other way around, the DFB pays, for example, parking fees for national players.
- Investor entry: The DFL is currently working on selling some of the media rights to investors – as other leagues in Europe have already done. However, the project is controversial. The regional conferences announced by Hopfen in September have not yet taken place. There is a working group. A majority for this billion dollar project is not recognizable among the 36 clubs.
- Foreign marketing: The DFL earns significantly less money abroad than other European leagues. Recently there have even been painful declines, they still come from Seifert’s tenure. It seems unlikely that there will soon be significantly more than the 190 million euros planned for this season. Hopfen had pointed out several times that there would be no improvement in the short term.