Bundesliga financially left behind
Bayern boss Kahn complains about a lack of income
03/23/2022, 08:41 am
CEO Oliver Kahn has complained about the Bundesliga’s lack of income from international TV contracts with the English Premier League. Record champions Bayern Munich are still one of the top-selling clubs in Europe and have long surpassed all other Bundesliga clubs.
Bayern boss Oliver Kahn complained in a newspaper interview about the lack of income from Bundesliga foreign marketing. He sees serious financial disadvantages for German clubs as a result. “A landslide-like disparity has arisen here, and the Bundesliga needs solutions for how this huge difference can be reduced again,” said the CEO of FC Bayern Munich to the “Münchener Merkur” with a view to the difference to the English Premier League.
“Currently, the annual income from international TV contracts in the Bundesliga is less than 150 million euros per year – the Premier League collects more than two billion euros in the same period,” explained Kahn. After new deals with NBC for the USA and NENT for Scandinavia, the Premier League will receive a total of £5.3 billion for the rights period between 2022 and 2025, i.e. around 6.41 billion euros. For the first time in the history of the Premier League, and also for the first time in the history of football, revenue from foreign marketing has exceeded revenue from a league’s national TV rights. The UEFA Benchmark Report published in February shows that the Bundesliga achieves only 15 percent of the domestic value abroad.
The lack of competition at the top, numerous unattractive clubs for foreign audiences, the almost complete absence of superstars in the Bundesliga, the international focus on the Champions League and the Premier League are causing the German league to struggle financially. “The Premier League is now benefiting from having entered foreign markets as early as the 1990s,” Kieran Maguire, a football financial analyst, told England in February “time”: “The Premier League is by far the most popular league in the world.”
Bavaria admits financial problems
Statements by Bayern Munich sports director Hasan Salihamidžić suggested that the record champions would have to limit themselves in the midst of the ending pandemic. Last weekend he commented on the limited financial options in the context of the faltering contract extensions of the three club legends Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski. “We have to make sure that our quality in the team and the economic component match. Of course we have a pandemic, it’s still there. We still don’t have a full stadium. We’re going through a difficult phase financially. We’ll try to find our way to go,” the Bosnian said on Sky.
Nevertheless, Bayern Munich is comparatively soft: According to an analysis of the reputable financial blog Swiss Ramble FC Bayern Munich has already earned 107 million euros in the current UEFA Champions League season. All other German participants have already been eliminated and have significantly less income. Accordingly, Borussia Dortmund has earned 61 million euros, RB Leipzig 44 million euros and VfL Wolfsburg 35 million euros. The funds are made up of the following factors: appearance bonus, victory bonus, UEFA coefficient and TV rights.
England far ahead
In addition to the sporting success, which brought in Bayern Munich with 38.3 million euros, almost 30 million euros more than Borussia Dortmund with 9 million euros, Bayern are benefiting from their good UEFA coefficient and higher income from the TV pool, which after final placement distributed in the Bundesliga. Last season’s champions receive 40 percent of the appearance fees from TV broadcasters, while the fourth-placed club only receives 10 percent.
Thanks to the many years of sporting consistency and the nine championships in a row, Bayern Munich is the only Bundesliga club among the European financial elite. In the Deloitte ranking of the highest-revenue football clubs in Europe, published just this week, Bayern Munich took third place with sales of EUR 611 million in the 2020/2021 season, just behind Manchester City (645 million) and Real Madrid (641 million).
With Borussia Dortmund there is only one other club in the top 20. The permanent league second from the Ruhr area was able to convert 338 million euros last season. Also based on TV revenue, ten clubs are among the top 20 clubs: City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Leicester City, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton and Aston Villa. Future financial heavyweights in European football, Newcastle United, finished only 28th in the last season before Saudi Arabia stepped in.