The Netzhoppers recently filed for bankruptcy. And yet that doesn’t mean the end of Bundesliga volleyball in Brandenburg. What options do the Netzhoppers have now and how can things go on? By Lynn Kraemer
The message came as a surprise and then again not: The energy source Netzhoppers KW-Bestensee is on the verge of closure. The Brandenburg volleyball Bundesliga team has not been able to pay out player salaries since February. In mid-April, Ballsport-Liga GmbH, to which the professional department is hived off, a bankruptcy filing. On April 26, the club made the decision public.
“We have always been a club that has distinguished itself by always somehow managing it,” says long-time Netzhoppers player Dirk Westphal: “Then you assume that it will somehow continue. But apparently we were there Point where it was one time too many.”
Westphalia had more and more tasks in his last active season taken over as sports director of the club. Together with head coach Tomasz Wasilkowski, he was actually busy planning the squad when he found out about the bankruptcy application: “Of course, with the lack of salaries, we knew that something wasn’t going quite so smoothly and that we had a significantly smaller budget for planning the squad for next year. ” Nevertheless, he was surprised by the news.
With an announcement?
The season was already over for the team. after one surprising third place at the Bounce House Cup, the preparatory tournament of the league, little came together in the main round. Seventh in the table with only three victories, they went into the intermediate round, where the Netzhoppers were able to hold their own, but were also unable to improve. Then it was in the playoff quarterfinals after two expected 1:3 defeats against Lüneburg it’s over.
The office struggled off the field. The number of spectators in the Landkost Arena in Bestesee (Dahme-Spreewald), which is actually too small, remained manageable and one modern hall cannot be financed without an investor. The corona pandemic was followed by inflation and the strain did not abate.
“Thanks to the state support programs, the clubs got through this crisis, even if they were already unstable beforehand. And now we no longer have these support measures under difficult economic conditions again,” says Daniel Sattler, Managing Director of the Volleyball Bundesliga (VBL). With the absence of President Edmund Ahlers, who was ill, the Netzhoppers also lacked a contact person for sponsors and other supporters. The financial situation worsened.
“I wanted to get to know volleyball in all its facets”
Dirk Westphal celebrated an emotional career end on Sunday. As a professional, he was active in countries where volleyball is one of the most popular sports. In this country, the importance is lower, Westphal speaks of a missed opportunity.more
Volleyball Bundesliga between growth and decay
“It’s a bit of a state of emergency right now. We’re trying to grab it with both hands and make the best of it,” says Westphal. Because the bankruptcy application is not synonymous with the end for the Netzhoppers. Their license will not be automatically revoked or denied for the new season.
“Every location is important to us, such a traditional location as always. We have several free places in the men’s 1st league. It is all the more important that we keep all clubs on board here,” says VBL Managing Director Daniel Sattler supervised the licensing process.
The Netzhoppers could benefit from the fact that the league lowers the license requirements. In order to replenish the top division, the 2023/24 season promote up to four clubs [br.de]. With currently only nine teams, whereby the VCO Berlin has a special playing rightthree places are vacant.
Now, for example, teams no longer have to raise the previous minimum budget of 200,000 euros and the hall also has to meet fewer requirements. “It’s good – if you can still talk about it in the difficult situation – that the Netzhoppers even played the main round and the playoffs,” says Sattler. When it comes to licensing, the league pays particular attention to ensuring that game operations can be maintained for the entire season.
Location with potential
Despite the threat of Netzhoppers’ end, the league would not shrink any further as a result of the promotion program. However, an imbalance could develop: “With the redesign of the league, competition should take place in the lower half of the table. We have formed the link between midfield and lower half of the table for the last two years,” says Dirk Westphal. That would then be missing.
The other clubs also hope that there will be no gap. “It’s very unfortunate. From the point of view of the BR Volleys, a good neighbor with whom we worked very well and closely would no longer be there,” says Kaweh Niroomand, manager of the successful capital club. But he also emphasizes that the Bundesliga clubs have to become more professional: “It’s a small, medium-sized company. You can’t run it more or less with volunteers.”
Niroomand also sees potential for the Netzhoppers and other small locations: “Especially in the smaller towns you have the opportunity to develop yourself.” The people of Brandenburg can benefit from the economic growth of the region. “There is nothing around that in terms of sport and the Bundesliga level. But this is a region in Germany that is developing in an exemplary industrial way,” said Niroomand.
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Options range from location-off to “white knight”
By Tuesday, May 2nd, those responsible for the Netzhoppers have to decide whether to apply for a license for the 1st or 2nd league and continue to fight for the location. “Everything is currently under scrutiny,” said Westphal. One part of the club is picking up the pieces and dealing with the insolvency process, the other part is looking to the future. “If you get something positive out of the whole situation in the end, then there is so much on the ground that you can do things new and rethink them,” says Westphal. He pointed out many ways how professional volleyball could be preserved: “I hope that people will give us this advance, their trust, without seeing a finished product yet. But I would compete and work for it.” You urgently need people who are committed and give the so-called “white knight”.
If the Brandenburgers submit the license application on Tuesday, they will gain time. Because then they have two weeks to present their basic budget and, if that is not enough for a first division operation, can downgrade their application to the second division by the end of the month. If they are not able to present it at the end of June, when other parts of the budget have to be in place, that will be the end of it. A downgrade to the 2nd league is then no longer possible.
If the Netzhoppers want to hold on to top-class sport, they have to advertise themselves to the population, politics and business. It is still unclear whether Westphal’s “white knight” will drive up in a Tesla or whether several regional companies will jointly support the undertaking. “In the end, the region has to show how much it wants the Netzhoppers, how much it wants professional sport.” Because it won’t work alone.
Broadcast: rbb24, May 1st, 2023, 6 p.m
