The DFL has specified its plans for a possible investor entry. Top clubs should receive more money, but the focus should be on the digitization of the DFL. Fans have been protesting for weeks.
At an appointment at its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main on Thursday (May 4th, 2023), the DFL outlined the plans for the possible entry of an investor. It was already known that the DFL intends to found a subsidiary in order to bundle the TV rights there, which make up a large part of the income. The DFL’s plan, which the 36 clubs would have to agree to with a two-thirds majority in a general meeting, essentially provides for the following:
- An investor pays the league two billion euros.
- As DFL interim managing director Oliver Leki revealed, this should be the case 12.5 percent of the proceeds for 20 years from the sale of the rights of this subsidiary to the partner.
- The goal: The proceeds increase overall and, in addition to the high one-off payment, there is a permanent profit for everyone.
Distribution: 40 percent digitalization the DFL, 60 percent for the clubs
When using the money, there is talk of three pillars, the DFL specified the use on Thursday:
- 40 percent (800 million euros) are to be used for the digitization and internationalization of the DFL: An online platform for the dissemination of content is to be set up and, above all, to appeal to fans abroad, especially younger ones.
- 45 percent (900 million euros) should be put into the infrastructure of the clubs: The clubs should invest in their stadiums, youth academies and offices.
- 15 percent (300 million euros) remain at your free disposal: Here the clubs should be able to invest in new players or reduce debts to increase their attractiveness.
60 percent, i.e. the freely available sum and the money for the infrastructure, should probably be distributed like the previous TV money. “It was quickly agreed that we should orientate ourselves closely to the existing distribution. This guiding principle is mostly seen positively.”said Leki. Means: The top clubs get more money, the rest receive smaller amounts behind them. FC Bayern, for example, currently receives around three times what VfL Bochum receives.
Leki added that nobody needs to modernize the infrastructure if it is already modern. This means that such clubs have more money freely available. The decisive general meeting should probably take place at the beginning of July, according to Axel Hellmann (Eintracht Frankfurt), who is currently interim managing director of the DFL together with Leki (SC Freiburg).
Four candidates remain for investor entry left over
But first, on May 24, a general meeting of the 36 clubs will make a preliminary decision on the offers. According to information from the sports show, only five of the six private equity companies previously submitted an offer.
One applicant only bid for international rights, Hellmann said. “There is one offer among the five that is far behind. I am therefore planning that we will go to the general meeting on May 24th with four offers.”
strengthening the sustainability or squandering future earnings?
The main criticism is that money from the future should be spent today and that the big clubs may benefit more from the distribution than the others. Fans also express the fear that an investor can at least informally influence decisions, even if the DFL excludes this.
Proponents complain that funding is necessary to make the Bundesliga digitally future-proof and to be able to compete with other leagues in Europe.
In 2021, the DFL had pursued plans for the entry of an investor for the first time, but the 36 clubs voted against the project at the time.