Die Bundesliga Traditionally, only one plays at the classic football award ceremonies, such as the Ballon d’Or or the World Footballer’s Choice supporting role. There are some specific reasons for this, but it also highlights fundamental problems. We spoke to the expert Dr. Christoph Breuer from the sports college Köln talked about it.
Some things don’t seem to change. Like this for example supporting role the Bundesliga at the Ballon d’Or. Toni Kroos was the best German in the world footballer election this year, coming in ninth place. Stayed with the teams Bayer Leverkusen After a historic season, a triumph was denied, as was the Bayer coach Xabi Alonso, who had to admit defeat to Carlo Ancelotti. Young stars like Alexander Pavlovic or Jamal Musiala weren’t even nominated in their categories.
These are results that the sports economist Dr. Christoph Breuer no longer surprising. Because the dilemma has a specific reason, as he explained in an interview with our editorial team. “The glamorous marketing beyond ‘classic sport’ is carried out extremely cautiously in German professional football,” explains Breuer: “Other clubs know the importance of this prize in the attention economy and are trying to position their players accordingly.”
Boycotted in a flash
This also applies in the case when a club like Real Madrid the whole thing in a flash Event boycottedbecause you don’t agree with the result. That may be an affront, unsportsmanlike and cheeky, but it reflects the basic self-image of the “Royal” who, in a positive sense, drum up drums for their figureheads in a similarly eye-catching way and put them in the spotlight. Completely in contrast to FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and co.
The passivity of the Bundesliga is due to a traditional reluctance in marketing segments that strongly represent extreme commercialization. A problem loudly Breuer: The clubs fear criticism from active fan circles to some extent. On the other hand, the clubs generally don’t seem to identify that much with the glamorous excesses of professional football. “But if my goal is that Bundesliga In order to optimize foreign marketing as a whole, I also have to get involved in these playgrounds, which seem to play a much stronger role in communication in the global area than in Deutschland“, emphasized Breuer.
What makes matters worse is that… Deutschland The focus is still on the team and not so much on the individual player, the superstar. Which is also due to the fact that the absolute world stars in the… Bundesliga miss. Bavaria Harry Kane may be an exception, he won the Gerd Müller Trophy as the best goalscorer at the gala. However, the Englishman only came tenth in the voting for the Ballon d’Or.
Two problems reinforce each other
At this point two problems arise Bundesliga mutually: On the one hand, the lack of continuous sporting success at international level, “because in principle only players who make it to the final rounds of the… Champions League play and often even come from countries where they can play a certain role in their national teams,” he said Breuer. “And a corresponding marketing restraint then reinforces the whole thing.” And you have to regularly give way to the competition at the most important international prizes.
That the Bundesliga generally an international one Marketing problem But the sports economist doesn’t want to leave it like that. The term is formulated too harshly, he says, “I would rather call it marketing reluctance in certain segments.” Some of it is homemade. Because that Premier League is the benchmark in its foreign marketing Europaalso for them Bundesliga.
Shorten the gap to the Premier League
The goal has long been to close the gap on the Premier League at least want to downsize, because with proceeds from marketing of international media rights according to “HE DOES” of around 214 million euros per season is for the Bundesliga still a lot of room for improvement. This leaves the Italian Serie A (213 million euros) just behind, but has against The League (669 million) or the Premier League (2.2 billion) still no chance.
And that’s where he plays too Ballon d’Or certainly plays a role, because “if I have the goal of maximizing my income in all areas and I’m interested in developing the brand abroad globally Bundesliga or to strengthen the club brands in as many ways as possible, we should pay more attention to this competition and take it seriously.”
Which is mainly due to the target group, because how Breuer emphasizes, there are “relevant findings that younger fans and consumers, especially abroad, perceive football much more through individual stars and increasingly identify themselves more with players than with clubs.” Quite a few fans even change clubs in order to continue following and supporting their superstar.
More attractive for changing fan interests
This should be completely independent of individual awards such as the Ballon d’Or Bundesliga sea Breuer Therefore, focus more on “how we can be more attractive to the changing fan interests and needs of younger generations in the future, because there is a lot of potential in this area.” The awareness of this is with the DFL but it is already very much there, as shown, for example, by the recent discussion about the development of a digital platform Breuer.
The crux of the matter: The league is getting in its own way because it is not taking the final marketing steps in some areas. A typical example is the cheaper standing room that most clubs offer. In a league that is permeated by strong fan groups based on tradition, a departure from this would be unthinkable. “Dynamic pricing of tickets, which is now widespread in other countries, is also rejected in this country,” says Breuer: “This shows that, on the one hand, people say that they want to keep their distance from… Premier League not allow it to grow larger, but at the same time does not move all available levers.”
Can the Bundesliga improve?
There is a fine line between preserving traditions and the fan as the center of sustainable value creation in professional football and the use of new marketing opportunities. “When the home fan in Deutschland If you have other preferences, that obviously plays a role,” says Breuer.
The bottom line is that this ensures that… Bundesliga When it comes to the success of foreign marketing, it is clearly behind the English league and also behind the top clubs in the Spanish league. And it could stay that way for a while. Because loud Breuer It is “extremely difficult to improve this positioning. Because this can only be achieved through lasting sporting success”.
German clubs in the semi-finals or finals Champions League should therefore no longer be the exception, but rather become the rule. “Without an attractive core sporting performance, even the most clever marketing measures can hardly have any impact globally,” says Breuer: “If this is the case, then it definitely makes sense to play the glamor card more in the future.” So that the Bundesliga die supporting role then get rid of it at some point.
About the interlocutor:
- Dr. Christoph Breuer is head of the Institute for Sports Economics and Sports Management at the German Sports University Cologne. The internationally oriented institute deals with questions that lie at the interface between sport and economics.
Source used:
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