In the second attempt, German professional football cleared the way for an investor to get involved. At the meeting of the 36 first and second division teams on Monday in Frankfurt am Main, the necessary two-thirds majority for negotiations between the German Football League (DFL) and potential donors was just achieved.
Participants confirmed this after the meeting. First the “Sportschau” and the Kicker reported unanimously about it. There should be four to six interested investors from the so-called private equity sector. These are equity investment companies that specialize in forms of investment. In May the efforts had failed. The majority on Monday could not have been narrower: 24 yes votes, ten no votes, two abstentions. The election was held by secret ballot.
The new plan calls for selling six to nine percent of the shares in a DFL subsidiary, to which all media rights will be outsourced, for 20 years. There should be between 800 million and one billion euros for this.
There was resistance to such a deal from the fan camp until the very end. The supporters, who also expressed their protest on banners in many stadiums last weekend, fear that the entry of an investor will distort competition. The fan alliance “Our Curve” reiterated shortly before the meeting: “We view the planned vote on the entry of an investor into the DFL critically and reject this plan in its entirety.”
DFL managing directors Marc Lenz and Steffen Merkel, however, had again pointed out before the vote that the future partner should only be granted limited say in the economic area. “If a potential partner does not accept the red lines, he is not the right one for us,” emphasized Lenz.
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