A billion dollar deal with the DFL collapsed on Wednesday. Bayern boss Oliver Kahn expressed his dissatisfaction with this decision and warned of enormous risks for competitiveness: “Now there is a risk that the gap to England and Spain will continue to grow. And that would be damaging for all clubs, big and small.”
With the entry of an investor, the DFL would have promised new capital of around two billion euros. The deal failed due to the required two-thirds majority of the 36 first and second division teams. Although 20 clubs voted in favor, with eleven votes against and five abstentions, that wasn’t enough in the end. “The aim was to strengthen the Bundesliga and the second Bundesliga. With this model, the larger clubs would have shown a lot of solidarity with the smaller ones,” explained Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn to dpa. Capital for overall marketing The money should have been used to strengthen overall marketing of the Bundesliga, primarily abroad. The biggest driving force is, of course, FC Bayern, both nationally and internationally.
