The heavily indebted FC Schalke 04 wants to set up a support cooperative and thereby raise more money from its fans. The club announced this on Wednesday. At the same time, CEO Matthias Tillmann told the Funke media group: “In order to free ourselves from the financial shackles, we have to bring money into the club.” The second division soccer team is hoping for a double-digit million sum.
According to their own information, Schalke 04 currently has liabilities of around 160 million euros. In 2023 alone, around 16 million euros in interest was due. “We lack money to invest in sports and infrastructure, for example,” said Tillmann. The long-time Champions League participant is currently stuck in the bottom third of the 2nd Bundesliga table. The support cooperative should now help.
The established purpose of the cooperative should be to invest in the association’s infrastructure projects. The focus is initially on the Schalke Arena. This is owned by a stadium company, in which the club has an 85 percent stake. “By selling shares in the stadium company to the cooperative, we are bringing capital into the club,” said Tillmann.
For members and companies only
The Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli also wants to sell stadium shares through a newly founded cooperative. The Hanseatic people are hoping for around 30 million euros in income. Expectations are also high at Schalke 04. “Anyone who looks at our numbers knows that it doesn’t help much if we collect two million euros,” said Tillmann.
Only Schalke club members and companies can purchase cooperative shares. But you don’t get a say. It is not yet clear how expensive the shares will be. Nor the amount of a possible return. However, Tillmann emphasized: “If you are looking for high returns, you should invest elsewhere.”
