The german football league, the Bundesliga, has one of the best and most successful financial structures in all of Europe's major football leagues. It has the lowest debt to revenue ratio out of the 5 major leagues, with 39.8%. Compare that too Spanish clubs - 249%, English clubs - 129%, Italian clubs - 156%*. It also has the lowest total wage to revenue ratio, at 53%, compared to 70% in the premier league and 71% in Frances La Ligue 1*.The German Bundesliga also receives significantly less in television income than the premier league, 594 million euros compared to 1.94 billion euros*.
Their financial stability is due to several key reasons, but first and foremost, the 50+1 rule. This states that members of a club (the fans) must retain at least 51% ownership, so preventing any single entity taking control. There are exceptions to the 50+1 rule, yet even these appear couched in common sense. Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg are two. If a company is supporting a football club for more than 20 years then it can acquire the majority*. The idea is that a company has by then proved to fans and the league that they take their engagement in the Bundesliga seriously, that it's not just a fancy toy or part-time cash injection that could change from one day to another. The other key reason is that to play in the Bundesliga, you must be granted a licence, and only clubs that have a sustainable financial structure with manageable amounts of debt will be issued a licence. This is the reason why Bundesliga clubs keep their wage bills so low compared to clubs in other leagues. The Bundesliga's careful financial management has clearly had a great impact on the competitiveness of its football, with three different league champions in the three seasons between 2008 and 2011. So why do Europe's other major leagues not introduce similar systems to that of the Bundesliga if they are achieving such high levels of competitiveness and financial stability?
This is the result of a league where the fans are at the heart of the sport:
References:
- Total Football Forums / Bundesliga, April 20th 2012
- German soccer beats England on profits. Financial times, May 31st 2012.
- How the Bundesliga puts the Premier League to shame, The Guardian, 11 April 2012
- How the Bundesliga puts the Premier League to shame, The Guardian, 11 April 2012
amazing article, I absolutely agree.
RépondreSupprimerYou haven't seen a football game until you were in a German Stadium and watched a Bundesliga game.
I agree that the league is very equal as everyone can beat everyone but there is a absolute favorite every year which is Bayern Munich. In the last 2 years Borussia Dortmund could compete against them and win the title in 10/11 and the "double" (title and cup) in 11/12.
The media mostly talks about the duel Dortmund - Bayern (same as Barca - Madrid in Spain)
Clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim are not really popular in Germany as they get a lot of financial help. The help don't give them a huge advantage towards the other clubs as their stadium capacity and their fan basis is not that big.
The 50+1 is a good idea but you can see here also that there are ways to avoid it. This will be the same for the financial fair play (if it gets introduced). They are introducing the FFP because they saw how much success the Bundesliga had with the 50+1 rule.
If the FFP would get implemented, analysts forecasted that the German clubs would take the most profit out of it because they are already prepared by having the 50+1 rule.
yeh that is true that all though the league overall is more balanced and fair, you still have the giant teams like Bayern and more recently dortmund. But i cant think of a league in europe which doesn't have one or two teams traditionally doing better than the others. But still the Bundesliga is the most fair and balanced out of the 5 major leagues in europe because they have a very good structure and culture around their football. And as you say im sure they will benefit from this once the FFP kicks in in a few seasons from now.
Supprimer