The German Bundesliga clubs hope to benefit from a partial sale of the media rights to investors.
(Photo: dpa)
Munich, Frankfurt According to information from the Handelsblatt, the German Football League (DFL) is offering potential investors a smaller share for sale than last mentioned. Insiders from the environment of the umbrella organization of the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga report that a corresponding offer only provides 12.5 percent of the media revenues for sale for a certain period of time. Previously there was a stake of 15 percent in the room. Investors can make suggestions for different time periods – 20, 25 or 30 years.
The participation of investors should bring in billions for the Bundesliga club, primarily through the expansion of foreign marketing. The DFL itself assumes an overall valuation of the media rights of 15 to 18 billion euros.
The newly defined share would be worth between a good 1.9 and 2.2 billion euros. The DFL wants to use the funds to advance digitization and open up new sources of revenue.
Because of criticism within the league, the plans have now been revised again, people familiar with the processes report. Because two thirds of the clubs would have to agree to a sale.
Most recently, the opponents of the sale of shares had sent a surprising signal: With Christian Keller, managing director of 1. FC Köln, they elected a candidate to the DFL supervisory board who had clearly positioned himself against investor participation. The favorite for the election was actually Klaus Filbry from Werder Bremen, who had supported the sale of the shares.
Investors are asked about conflicts of interest and network
The interim but decisive DFL leadership around Oliver Leki (SC Freiburg) and Axel Hellmann (Eintracht Frankfurt) is now under negotiating pressure.
According to the sources, 14 criteria have been worked out that a potential investor must have. The previous commitment in Germany and its track record, the so-called “track record”, should be taken into account.
Experience in sports marketing, a financial volume of more than 15 billion euros and a global media network should also be basic requirements for negotiations with interested institutional investors such as funds.
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The question of whether entry would entail any conflicts of interest within the league also plays a role. This is apparently aimed at well-known investors who are also involved at club level (“multi-ownership”) or invest in other leagues. A corresponding memo is to be sent to those interested on Monday. The DFL declined to comment.
With the money, the DFL also wants to reduce the financial gap to leagues that are dominated by investor money, such as the English Premier League. However, industry observers doubt that this can still be achieved at all.
This can also be expressed in figures: the Bundesliga has so far achieved 200 million euros a year for international media rights and around 1.1 billion for national marketing. The British league calculates 5.7 billion euros for the period 2022 to 2025. In the league environment, the question of whether an investor entry at league level prevents future commitments at club level is also controversial.
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