The German Football League (DFL) will no longer convince many supporters in the Bundesliga curves. And it seems highly questionable whether she will change the minds of a sufficient number of clubs in this third attempt for an investor deal worth billions.
The criticism and rejection are clearly audible before the general meeting next Monday. While public support has so far only been very hesitant and the DFL remains silent.
The fans are once again the loudest. They are also in focus because the new DFL leadership does not want to comment on the topic. A longer statement on its own homepage is the only public statement apart from a few sentences from supervisory board boss Hans-Joachim Watzke in an interview about his parent club Borussia Dortmund.
The simple version of the critics in the curve is plain and simple: “Shit DFL!” That’s what fans from Freiburg and Mainz sang on Sunday. The joint campaign by the supporters of both clubs also included two banners with the inscriptions: “For sustainable football” and “Against investors in clubs and associations”.
Fan representatives fear distortion of competition
The fan interest group “Our Curve” has also taken a clear position and “completely rejects this attempt at investor involvement in the DFL,” said Jost Peter, first chairman of “Our Curve,” to the German Press Agency. “According to current calculations, the model strengthens the upper third of the DFL leagues, while two thirds of the clubs can only expect minimal improvements. In connection with the already unfair distribution of TV money, small additional income ultimately develops into ever greater distortion of competition.”
Several clubs come under pressure from their own fans during the discussion, because they clearly contradict the club’s management. The example of Werder Bremen shows this. The chairman of the supervisory board, Hubertus Hess-Grunewald, said at the general meeting: “In order to be able to cope with the enormous efforts of the future, we need a strategic partner.” At the next home game it was immediately said: “Quick investor money instead of creative solutions? The easy way was never the green and white one. You are not Werder!”
Hoffenheim and Heidenheim open to investors
Other clubs have it easier because their fan scene is not as loud and dominant. Hoffenheim’s managing director Denni Strich explained: “We are positive about working with a strategic partner. We communicated this to our fan scene in a constructive exchange.” And the management of 1. FC Heidenheim has explained to its fan advisory board that they are “positive” about a strategic marketing partnership under certain conditions.
Some clubs have already made it clear that they will vote against the deal again, such as 1. FC Köln. “The DFL has significantly improved its investor proposal. But unfortunately it has still not been sufficiently examined as to whether there are more sensible alternatives to a private equity investor,” said Vice President Eckhard Sauren to the “Sportschau”: “We still think so It is imperative that only the 36 professional clubs decide on the development of German professional football and that no private equity company is at the table.”
Freiburg’s change of opinion
At least one club has even changed its mind and is no longer one of the supporters: SC Freiburg has “changed its assessment” of the new model, as the board of directors and supervisory board wrote. They are convinced “that the significantly reduced investment volume, which will also be spread over several years, should be financed from our own resources (internal financing)”. Spicy: SCF managing director Oliver Leki was still one of the supporters during his time as interim managing director of the DFL.
Since the failed attempt in the spring, only Watzke has publicly provided arguments for the investor deal in an interview with the “Ruhr Nachrichten”. “We have to invest in foreign marketing,” said the DFL supervisory board, who seemed in a bad mood and personally offended after failing to get a two-thirds majority in the spring.
“We don’t have this money freely available. That’s why the approach is to find a strategic partner who will finance our expansion and bring in expertise,” explained the BVB boss. “And in return the partner receives a certain percentage of the marketing revenue.”
DFL relies on a slimmed-down solution
After a first attempt under then DFL boss Christian Seifert and a second one in the spring failed, a kind of light version of the May model is now up for vote. Briefly summarized: A financial investor should pay one billion euros for a percentage share of the TV revenue. According to dpa information, the percentage is a matter of negotiation: the smaller the corresponding offer, the less the league would have to give. Six companies are said to have expressed interest.
The contract should have a maximum term of 20 years and be signed by the start of the 2024/25 season. A large part of the income will flow into the further development of the DFL business model, especially strengthening foreign marketing and preventing piracy. Details were explained to the clubs in two meetings on November 2nd and 6th. Some fan representatives also received explanations at a meeting with the DFL leadership.
Will there be the required two-thirds majority this time? “The mood has changed among a number of clubs that voted against it at the time,” said Watzke. But there was also movement in the other direction, as the head of the DFL supervisory board knows and commented: “I can’t understand it.”
