FRANKFURT / MUNICH (dpa-AFX) – FC Bayern Munich has reacted to the premature end of the hoped-for billion-dollar deal from the German Football League and even sees dangers in it in an international comparison. “The aim was to strengthen the Bundesliga and the second Bundesliga. With this model, the larger clubs would have shown a lot of solidarity with the smaller ones,” said CEO Oliver Kahn on Wednesday evening at the request of the German Press Agency.
“Now there is a danger that the gap to England and Spain will continue to grow. And that would be damaging for all clubs, the bigger and the smaller,” said the CEO of the German record champions.
At the eagerly awaited meeting of the 36 first and second division clubs in an airport hotel in Frankfurt/Main, a corresponding DFL application did not receive the required two-thirds majority on Wednesday. Although 20 clubs voted in favor, that was not enough with eleven votes against and five abstentions.
The DFL had promised fresh capital of around two billion euros from the entry of an investor. In particular, the money should be used to strengthen the overall marketing of the Bundesliga, primarily abroad. Nationally and internationally, FC Bayern is by far the biggest draw.
If approved, the DFL would have outsourced the national and international media rights to a subsidiary called DFL MediaCo GmbH & Co. KGaA. A potential investor, three of whom were originally interested, was to acquire 12.5 percent of the new company for a period of 20 years.
For DFL supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke, a possible entry by an investor after the vote is off the table. “Sometimes life is easy too. That’s democracy. There was a clear majority, but not the one we wanted. So the topic is over as of today,” said Watzke./kun/DP/men