Eintracht Frankfurt’s board spokesman, Axel Hellmann, is very concerned about the growing alienation of fans from professional football.
“It has to alarm us,” said the 50-year-old in the “double pass” on “Sport1”: “But football can only be changed to a certain extent. It’s a high-frequency machine.” To make matters worse, there is “no market” in professional football that “only happens in Germany”.
Therefore, the Bundesliga could not tackle the problems alone. “The more capital flows into the system from outside, the greater the pressure on our level,” he explained: “I am in favor of the approach that we generate the capital ourselves. I am not a friend of investors and sovereign wealth funds. Healthy growth is good for the Bundesliga, you have to position yourself broadly. Otherwise we’ll be lagging behind the European competition.”
In addition to the pitch, it is also about creating a better “feeling” for people, Hellmann continued: “Of course we have to be ready to fly to Asia and the USA. But you also have to plan test games on your own doorstep so that people come into contact with the players and brands. Otherwise it is purely a distance and media product and then it will be difficult to reach people.”