Dispute over billion-dollar investor
Union boss denounces expensive “envy” among clubs
December 10, 2023, 2:56 p.m
The 36 clubs in the top German football leagues are to vote on the possible entry of an investor into German club football. There is anger among the clubs about the approach; the boss of Union Berlin sees the clubs in a position of weakness. That could be very, very expensive.
In a letter to the German Football League and the other 35 professional clubs, Union Berlin President Dirk Zingler called for the vote on investor involvement to be postponed and sharply criticized the behavior of other clubs.
“Allowing an investor to come to our table for the first time based on the lowest common denominator is inappropriate to the fundamental importance of this process. Instead, we should spend time and effort to achieve unity, to create a broad consensus among all parties involved, a position of strength to develop,” demanded the boss of the Champions League participant in the letter published on the Iron team’s homepage on Sunday.
Zingler left no doubt about his fundamental commitment to investor entry and criticized opponents of the model that failed in May. “It is necessary to invest wisely in German professional football, in our own path. But our small-mindedness and our mutual envy have repeatedly prevented us from doing so: Because others supposedly unfairly get more than my club, I prefer to vote against it completely,” he described his view of the events in the spring. A new vote on the slimmed-down model is now coming “at the wrong time”.
Clubs argue, fans protest
The expected lower profit sharing compared to the proposal rejected in May was also cited as a point of criticism by Union. “Today, one percent of the profit share in our media rights for 20 years ‘costs’ a potential partner around 112 million euros. In the spring the value was up to 176 million euros,” calculated Zingler.
A decision on a possible strategic marketing partnership is to be made at the DFL general meeting on Monday. Fans had already taken a stand against it in numerous Bundesliga and second division stadiums. Similar plans had already failed on May 24th. A corresponding motion did not receive the required two-thirds majority.
The new partner is to pay one billion euros for a percentage share of the TV revenue. The contract should have a maximum term of 20 years and be signed by the start of the 2024/25 season. A large part of the income will flow into the further development of the DFL business model and, above all, strengthen foreign marketing. The Berliners now warned, among other things, of the consequences of multi-club ownership and purely return-oriented investor models. “The cultural significance and social anchoring of football are receiving less and less attention in such constellations. That must not be our path!” wrote Zingler.