As of: February 20, 2024, 4:18 p.m
By: Johannes Skiba
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Press
Split
While the DFL's planned investor deal is causing a lot of stir, other countries are already further ahead.
The consequences are diverse.
Frankfurt – The fan protests in the Bundesliga against the DFL and their vote on the investor deal are not letting up.
The fans have already had their first success.
But in other countries such as France, England and Spain, deals with wealthy investors have been concluded for a long time.
The first consequences for football in these leagues are already noticeable.
French clubs may have to prepare for falling income due to investor deals
In France's Ligue 1, 13 percent of the proceeds from the marketing of the league were permanently sold to the company CVC in April 2022 for 1.5 billion euros.
The president of the LFP (French equivalent of the DFL), Vincent Labrune, announced after the sale: “French football is saved.” In fact, the deal has not been a success story so far.
On the one hand, there are great inequalities in the distribution of money.
While Sheikh's club PSG received 200 million euros as champions, promoted AC Le Havre only received 1.5 million.
The sale drives the clubs further apart financially and therefore also in terms of sport.
On the other hand, the clubs have to pay additional money from the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons to CVC.
In view of the clubs' financial weakness, the company initially declined to pay out its 13 percent for these years, but is now demanding this, as L'
Équipe
reports.
If the LFP is unable to significantly increase its income, the clubs may receive less money than in the period before the investor deal.
Bundesliga fans protest weekly against the DFL and the investment of investors.
© Imago/Wagner
The English Premier League is the financial and sporting measure of all things
Regardless of the Bundesliga's investor deal, the Premier League plays in a different league financially.
The sale of media rights will bring almost two billion euros into the coffers of English clubs from the 2025/26 season - per season.
The clubs are also individually owned by investors such as the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (Newcastle United) or Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Manchester City), who is a member of the ruling family of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Even if this creates a great financial advantage for the clubs, which is particularly evident in the millions invested in player transfers, at the same time the clubs become completely dependent on their respective financiers.
Over the last two decades, investors have transformed English football into a consumer product perfectly prepared for the international audience.
However, there is hardly any real participation from the fans anymore.
At the same time, the English House of Lords became the strongest football league in the world.
The competition between Europe's top leagues has shifted from the sporting to the financial.
© IMago/Montage
Disunity in Spain and cup competitions in Saudi Arabia
While the Premier League has long since built up an unassailable financial advantage compared to the Bundesliga, the DFL is all about competing with the Spanish LaLiga.
The southern Europeans have concluded a similar but significantly more lucrative deal than their French colleagues.
In 2021, the Spaniards sold 8.2 percent of the umbrella association's television and sponsorship income for 50 years for two billion euros - also to CVC.
The private equity investor is also a potential investor in the Bundesliga and is partly financed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund (PIF).
However, the top clubs FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao as well as the then second division team UD Ibiza did not sign the relevant papers and instead concluded their own, more lucrative deals.
The other clubs have to spend 70 percent of their income on structural investments.
Like TV revenue, the money is awarded based on table placement and popularity.
The Spanish middle class club Celta Vigo, for example, was able to benefit from around 80 million euros in this way.
To this end, the Spanish football association RFEF sold the media rights for the cup competitions to Saudi companies for a lot of money.
Therefore, some games of these sometimes historic football tournaments are played on the Arabian Peninsula.
Inter Milan's sports director Javier Zanetti looked at mostly empty stands at the final of the Italian Super Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
© Imago/Paolone
Italy and Germany still without investors
The Italian clubs also play some of their cup games in Saudi Arabia.
However, as with the Spanish games, the hype in the desert state is very limited, as can be clearly seen from the viewer numbers.
For Serie A, the clubs rejected a sale of the media rights to CVC in 2021.
Nevertheless, we are still open to investor entry.
Last year, the league again sold its broadcasting rights for 900 million euros per season.
That is around 27.5 million euros less than before.
Naples' eccentric boss Aurelio De Laurentiis then made it abundantly clear: "This means the death of Italian football."
Even if the DFL's plans differ from those of the other leagues in some respects, such as the contract term or the actual influence of investors, there are similar dangers for German football and its fans as are already visible in the other major leagues on the continent are.
The protests are intended to prevent these scenarios.
(jsk)