Bundesliga
What the failure of the DFL’s investor deal means
Whether the fan protests will end remains unclear for the time being. photo
© Jan-Philipp Strobel/dpa
The planned investor entry into the German Football League is also off the table at the second attempt. Where should fresh money come from? And will the fan protests end now?
After weeks of massive protests from many fans German Football League canceled negotiations for the entry of an investor.
This weekend it will be seen in the stadiums of the 1st and 2nd league whether the games will now run without interruptions again. The seriously damaged DFL leadership has to look for new sources of money to finance the planned modernization projects. The cancellation of the billion-dollar deal also raises questions about maintaining the unity of professional football.
What were the DFL’s plans for an investor to get involved?
Just over a year ago, the DFL’s plans to sell 12.5 percent of the shares in a new subsidiary for 20 years first became known. Media rights should be outsourced there; an investor should pay two billion euros to get involved. The sovereignty of the 36 professional clubs should remain untouched. After the plans became known, there were already protests from fans; at the general meeting on May 24th, the plans failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority among the clubs.
The first signals for a second attempt in a scaled-down form followed in September. The investor was supposed to pay one billion euros for a smaller stake. On December 11th, 24 of the 36 clubs – exactly two thirds – voted in favor. It is unclear whether Hanover’s managing director Martin Kind voted yes, contrary to the parent club’s instructions. The fan protests against the decision increased massively, and the DFL continued to negotiate, most recently with the company CVC. On Wednesday, the Presidium stopped the negotiations after the majority in favor crumbled.
How do the fans react at the weekend?
He cannot guarantee that the protests will end, said Thomas Kessen, spokesman for the fan umbrella organization “Our Curve” of the German Press Agency. “This protest was designed very individually locally, was driven forward, and there was no central orchestration – accordingly there is no central orchestration as is being celebrated now.” You’ll definitely see “one or two funny posters” over the weekend, but Kessen doesn’t expect further provoked interruptions, sometimes lasting over 30 minutes: “I would at least be very surprised if someone else did that now.”
The fans’ position seems to have been strengthened for the time being after the victory in this showdown with the DFL. This could encourage organized supporters to engage in similar actions with clubs and league bosses for other goals. “The DFL is welcome to continue thinking about investors or other potential for further development; the important thing is that it learns to discuss all of this with the members of the clubs,” warned Kessen.
What does the end of the negotiations mean for the DFL leadership?
This is another crushing defeat for the DFL. The chairman of the supervisory board, Hans-Joachim Watzke – also managing director of Borussia Dortmund – supported the entry of an investor who would bring in fresh money for modernization and boost foreign marketing. The two relatively new DFL managing directors Marc Lenz and Steffen Merkel had also expressly promoted the plans until recently. The first attempt failed under their interim predecessors Axel Hellmann from Eintracht Frankfurt and Oliver Leki from SC Freiburg.
There was massive criticism of the league leadership, especially from the fan scene, because of poor communication and a lack of transparency in the investor process. “The mistake was with the DFL in that they didn’t even take fans and members with them,” criticized Kessen. The question now is how much the bosses are damaged by the failure of the project and whether trust in the DFL leadership can be restored.
How does the league want to get fresh money?
According to Watzke, the previous model with a minority stake in a subsidiary is off the table. “This process has been shelved. We have to start all over again,” said the 64-year-old. Discussions with the clubs should follow about other ways in which fresh capital could flow into the league.
Clubs could take on debt to finance modernization measures. They would be independent of an investor through their own loans. Many fans did not believe the league’s statements that a donor should not have a say in crucial issues such as game schedules or kick-off times.
Is there a risk of a Bundesliga splitting off?
After the first – failed – vote, the gap between large and small clubs became very clear; internationally playing industry leaders such as FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund openly feared for their competitiveness. The larger clubs would “certainly also think about what happens next for them,” Watzke said last May, adding that “please no one should come to him any more” with “solidarity issues” in the near future. The separation of the leagues is only the “ultima ratio”, i.e. the very last resort, Watzke said. Much more violent fan protests would be expected as a result of such a step.
To date, professional football income from media rights has been generated via the DFL’s central marketing and distributed to the 36 clubs. After the end of the negotiations, managing director Michael Ströll from FC Augsburg explained that the merger of the two leagues was a great and important asset for German football. “It is important that this decision is not now used by supporters to force the division of the leagues. That would be completely out of place in the current situation,” emphasized Ströll.