A senior Bundesliga official has admitted that the German top flight cannot compete financially with the Premier League. Hans-Joachim Watzke, CEO of Borussia Dortmund, made these comments during a recent interview with The Athletic. Watzke also serves as a key official of the German Football Association, president of the Bundesliga and member of the UEFA executive committee.
The German soccer executive addressed a host of topics in the interview. However, a key part of the discussion revolved around the Bundesliga’s attempts to grow as a league. In terms of financial power, the Premier League is undoubtedly the most dominant division in the world.
In fact, the English top flight recently took first place as the most-watched soccer league here in the United States. Mexico’s Liga MX previously held firm in the number one position here in the United States. The Bundesliga, for its part, finished sixth on the aforementioned list.
Selling broadcasting deal helps Bundesliga close financial gap
German football bosses are trying to close the gap by selling a portion of their television rights over a 20-year period. The move will bring in around $1 billion, but has been met with a pretty intense backlash from fans.
Watzke, however, defended the decision stating that the move will help grow the German league. “Creating streaming offers and investing in international marketing will help make the Bundesliga more popular and accessible abroad,” Watzke proclaimed. “It helps us compete financially with the Italians and the Spanish, who have the same problems as us.”
Although Watzke says selling a piece of the media pie will benefit the Bundesliga, he admits he won’t be able to come close to the Premier League just yet. “And he can help us spread the history of unique German football,” the German executive continued.
“There is an exceptional league: the Premier League. It exists on a completely different planet in terms of income streams and has a very different historical background as well as the advantage of the English language. “It’s a fantastic competition, even if that famous on-field atmosphere isn’t always what it seems.”
The Bundesliga would benefit if Bayern did not win the title
Another way for the Bundesliga to grow could be for another German team to finally end Bayern Munich’s domestic dominance. The Bavarian team has won the last 11 league titles in the league. As a result, some football fans assume that Bayern’s annual fate in the league is essentially a foregone conclusion.
Watzke was asked about Dortmund’s title win last season and whether their success would have changed things for the league. BVB went into the final day of the 2022/23 campaign needing only one win to claim their first Bundesliga title since 2012. However, the club ended up drawing against Mainz and Bayern narrowly took the championship.
“Yes. That would have been the icing on the cake,” replied Watzke. “A lot of people around the world paid attention to that title race, it really increased the visibility of the Bundesliga. I experienced it myself. I was in the finals of the Bundesliga. Europa League and the Champions League and many people, from [UEFA president] Aleksander Ceferin Jue [PSG chairman] Nasser Al-Khelaifi came up to me and said: ‘I saw it. It was really exciting.'”
Dortmund are struggling and far behind in the title race during the current campaign. However, Bayer Leverkusen is currently at the top of the table. German giants Bayern are now four points behind Xabi Alonso’s club, but have one more game ahead of them. German officials, certainly outside of Munich, will be hoping that Leverkusen can keep up with the typically unstoppable Bayern for the rest of the season.
Photo credits: IMAGO / Picture Point: IMAGO / Kirchner-Media.
Charging…
Share This Event