The German Football League (DFL) has announced it will not continue with plans to sell a stake in its media rights business to a private equity firm following supporter protests.
The DFL had been proposing to sell an eight per cent share of its TV and marketing rights to an external investor in a 20-year agreement as part of a potential €1billion (£856m, $1.08m) deal.
This received approval from clubs in December but had been the subject of increasingly disruptive fan protests in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, resulting in fixtures being interrupted.
The DFL said continuing with negotiations “no longer seems possible” because the disputes were “increasingly jeopardising match operations, specific match schedules and thus the integrity of the competition”.
It added the ongoing fan protests demonstrated the December vote from clubs in favour of the proposals “lacked broad acceptance”. This brought additional legal questions given Germany’s 50+1 rule, which states 50 per cent plus one share of the voting rights in a club must be held by the clubs’ members in any Bundesliga side.
The DFL said avoiding legal disputes and “returning to orderly match operations must be the DFL’s primary objective”.
Saturday’s game between Hansa Rostock and Hamburg in 2. Bundesliga saw fans drive remote control cars with flares attached to them onto the pitch. Dozens of tennis balls and toy cars also interrupted the Bundesliga match between Cologne and Werder Bremen, while Bayern Munich’s defeat to Bochum was twice delayed by protests in either half. The week before, supporters attached bike locks to the goal at Hamburg, requiring bolt cutters to remove them.
Remote cars were seen on the pitch in Hansa Rostock vs Hamburg (Christian Charisius/picture alliance via Getty Images)
A DFL spokesperson said: “In view of the circumstances in the league association with its 36 member clubs, the viability of a successful contract conclusion in terms of financing the 36 clubs can no longer be guaranteed.”
A previous proposal to give an outsider investor a 12.5 per cent stake was voted down in May, but 24 of 36 clubs from Germany’s top divisions — the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga — gave a reworked plan their backing in December.
It received exactly the two-thirds majority required to sanction Bundesliga board talks with potential investors. Ten clubs voted against the proposal, with many opposing the principle of partnering with a private equity firm, while two abstained.
The DFL spokesperson continued: “Having considered all legal aspects, the executive committee has also come to the conclusion that any further votes would not solve the problem.
“This (December) vote is considered legally valid within the executive committee and according to legal experts. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that this vote lacks broad acceptance due to the events involving Hannover 96.
“The executive committee has therefore unanimously come to the conclusion that, on the basis of the resolution of 11 December 2023, it will exercise its discretion not to continue the process and not to bring it to a conclusion. The DFL executive committee and the management will be inviting clubs to talks in the coming weeks to jointly discuss the implications of the process.”
Blackstone Inc and CVC Capital Partners had been the two remaining bidders in the process, but Blackstone officially withdrew last week.
The investment had been designed to help market the Bundesliga and improve its “international competitiveness,” as Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke — who also serves on the Bundesliga supervisory board — said last year.
International TV rights in Germany of around €200million (£171m, $216m) a year are currently dwarfed by the €1.9bn (£1.6bn, $2bn) annual figure that the Premier League pulls in from foreign rights alone.
(Ralf Ibing – firo sportphoto/Getty Images)
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