Controversy in the Bundesliga: Fans against outside investor

The German Football League (DFL), which brings together the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga, is looking for an outside investor, despite opposition from organised fan groups, who fear that this will lead to a deterioration of their football culture.

The plan is to set up a subsidiary to handle the transmission rights, 12.5 percent of which would be sold to an external investor for the next 20 years, which is intended to generate revenues of 2 billion euros.

The representatives of the 36 clubs in the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga must decide on 24th May on the draft, which requires a two-thirds majority.

In the run-up to that moment, DFL managing director Axel Hellmann and Supervisory Board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke have met with representatives of fan groups to try to allay concerns.

Helmann, speaking at a meeting in Dortmund, said it was not about forcing more commercialisation of football or trying to emulate the Premier League but about modernising the sale of rights and increasing competitiveness.

"It can be compared to the roof of a leaky house. We have a good building that has been working for years but we need to work on some things, not on the foundations, but on the leaking roof," he said. "Internationally there are some who are leaving us behind, we have to do something," he added.

Among the concerns of fan groups is that there should be a greater diversification of kick-off times for each match day. The DFL was recently forced to scrap Monday matches due to resistance from fan groups.

In this respect, Helmann said that the DFL could already diversify schedules, which it has not done and will not do with the arrival of an investor.