CEO Bernd Schröder has no doubts that the financially stricken FC Schalke 04 will receive the license even if they are relegated from the Bundesliga again.
“Yes, I am quite sure that we will get it. As reasonable business people, we also prepare ourselves for this scenario. We have to prove in licensing that we are fully financed again in the 2nd division – and I am convinced that we will we create,” said the business mathematician of the “Bild am Sonntag”.
If he stayed in the lower house of football for a longer period of time, he believes that major renovation work would be necessary: ”After three or four years in the second division, Schalke would have to look different, we’ve always said that. We would then have to look at what measures are necessary and make sense. You could sell the so-called silverware, you would have to come up with the costs.”
Before the restart of the Bundesliga on the third weekend in January, the Revierclub, which has debts of around 180 million euros, is five points behind the saving bank in last place in the table. Nevertheless, Schröder sees FC Schalke 04 among the top German clubs.
“Even though we’re just 18th – we’re being asked and we’re still important. We’re still one of the three biggest clubs in Germany, are among the top 3 and are important for German football,” said the 56-year-old with reference to the 165,000 members and the many fans.
Schröder also referred to the high TV ratings for Schalke games: “Which games are the fans watching? Those are the games in Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke in particular. We’re a big player in German football and we know our worth.”
He called for a different distribution of television money: “Those who guarantee more quotas should also get more money. It’s clubs like Frankfurt, Bremen, Cologne and Schalke, along with Bayern and Dortmund, who keep the Bundesliga attractive and attract thousands of fans to the stadiums and lure you in front of the TV. That’s what the rights holders pay for, so you have to show it on our bill at the end.”
