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Bundesliga going to the US for Revenue
Germany - 22 March, 2007
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The English Premier League is the richest in the world and German football's Bundesliga wants its revenue to be close to the English League's, according to Bundesliga managing director, Christian Seifert. One way it is trying to amass its wealth is by marketing itself in the U.S.
The 36 clubs in Germany's top two divisions had record sales of EUR 1.52 billion in the 2005-06 season, an increase of 22 percent, the league reported.
Last week, the Bundesliga agreed to work with U.S. Major League Soccer on issues ranging from player development to marketing.
"The U.S. market is the main focus for us," said Seifert in a television interview with Bloomberg News. "It has enormous growth potential.''
"Our first aim is to strengthen U.S. soccer. We'll see a strong interest in soccer there in the coming years. Then we'll see a stronger interest in foreign soccer.''
Germany will join clubs with Europe's other major leagues in jockeying for revenue from the U.S., where football's profile could increase as players, including former England captain David Beckham, take advantage of a relaxed salary cap next season.
English champion Chelsea will play Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy this year on its fourth straight pre-season tour of the country.
"Beckham will be very important for U.S. soccer and for the relationship between U.S. soccer and European soccer,'' said Jose Mourinho, Chelsea's coach.
Accountants Deloitte and Touche LLP estimates that England's 20 Premier League clubs will report total sales of about EUR 2 billion for 2005-06.
Germany's revenue may be more than Italy's Serie A, which according to Deloitte had income of EUR 1.34 billion for 2004-05.
The Premier League's revenue may grow to about EUR 2.5 billion by 2008, after the first year of a new domestic broadcasting agreement with British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc. and Setanta Sports, Deloitte says.
The Premier League has also sold television rights to about 190 countries.
Seifert said the Bundesliga would try to boost the 5 percent revenue it makes abroad to about 20 or 30 percent that he says the Premier League gets.
Germany did not succeed on capitalising on Borussia Dortmund's 1997 success in Europe's Champions League and Bayern Munich's fourth European elite title in 2001, he added. Manchester United's 1999 victory was England's first in 15 years.
"The Premier League is the best football league by marketing standards," Seifert said. "That's a surprise if you think back 10 years. At that time the Bundesliga was the strongest league in Europe. We weren't able to make the best out of that position.''
Germany's top division improved as the league that attracts the most supporters, with an average crowd of 38,000 compared with 35,000 the season before. That helped to lift sponsorship revenue 0.5 percent to EUR 417.7 million.
The top two divisions now employ 34,000 people, a rise of almost 10 percent, and provided the German government with EUR 461 million in taxes, up 21 percent from 2005.
Last year, SV Hamburg joined Bayern and Schalke 04 in Deloitte's list of the world's 20 richest clubs by revenue.
"These figures underline that professional football has become an important economic factor in Germany,'' Seifert said. "Especially in economically underdeveloped regions, the clubs have been offering much more than just entertaining sport.''
The 36 clubs in Germany's top two divisions had record sales of EUR 1.52 billion in the 2005-06 season, an increase of 22 percent, the league reported.
Last week, the Bundesliga agreed to work with U.S. Major League Soccer on issues ranging from player development to marketing.
"The U.S. market is the main focus for us," said Seifert in a television interview with Bloomberg News. "It has enormous growth potential.''
"Our first aim is to strengthen U.S. soccer. We'll see a strong interest in soccer there in the coming years. Then we'll see a stronger interest in foreign soccer.''
Germany will join clubs with Europe's other major leagues in jockeying for revenue from the U.S., where football's profile could increase as players, including former England captain David Beckham, take advantage of a relaxed salary cap next season.
English champion Chelsea will play Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy this year on its fourth straight pre-season tour of the country.
"Beckham will be very important for U.S. soccer and for the relationship between U.S. soccer and European soccer,'' said Jose Mourinho, Chelsea's coach.
Accountants Deloitte and Touche LLP estimates that England's 20 Premier League clubs will report total sales of about EUR 2 billion for 2005-06.
Germany's revenue may be more than Italy's Serie A, which according to Deloitte had income of EUR 1.34 billion for 2004-05.
The Premier League's revenue may grow to about EUR 2.5 billion by 2008, after the first year of a new domestic broadcasting agreement with British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc. and Setanta Sports, Deloitte says.
The Premier League has also sold television rights to about 190 countries.
Seifert said the Bundesliga would try to boost the 5 percent revenue it makes abroad to about 20 or 30 percent that he says the Premier League gets.
Germany did not succeed on capitalising on Borussia Dortmund's 1997 success in Europe's Champions League and Bayern Munich's fourth European elite title in 2001, he added. Manchester United's 1999 victory was England's first in 15 years.
"The Premier League is the best football league by marketing standards," Seifert said. "That's a surprise if you think back 10 years. At that time the Bundesliga was the strongest league in Europe. We weren't able to make the best out of that position.''
Germany's top division improved as the league that attracts the most supporters, with an average crowd of 38,000 compared with 35,000 the season before. That helped to lift sponsorship revenue 0.5 percent to EUR 417.7 million.
The top two divisions now employ 34,000 people, a rise of almost 10 percent, and provided the German government with EUR 461 million in taxes, up 21 percent from 2005.
Last year, SV Hamburg joined Bayern and Schalke 04 in Deloitte's list of the world's 20 richest clubs by revenue.
"These figures underline that professional football has become an important economic factor in Germany,'' Seifert said. "Especially in economically underdeveloped regions, the clubs have been offering much more than just entertaining sport.''
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