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The ball keeps rolling

Dirk Kaufmann / wgAugust 26, 2016

The new season is coming up for German football's national league. It remains to be seen if the league will find itself again at the top of the standings, though the league's clubs have never been more profitable.

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Bundesliga game
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/S. Hofmann

Bayern Munich can again start planning its May victory celebration. The Bundesliga's trainers see it as all but a foregone conclusion for the 2016-17 season.

The famous Bavarian football team is doing well for itself off the field as well: It has the most fans and fan clubs, the most lucrative branding, the best-paid players and the deepest pockets.

Not that other Bundesliga teams can complain. They, too, are earning more and more each year. What Christian Seifert, CEO of the German Football League (DFL) said a year ago holds true: "If you're growing 10 times faster than the German economy in general, you're in a good position."

England is the yardstick

Karsten Hollasch agrees. The leader of the Sport Business Group for consulting firm Deloitte told DW that the league can expect "solid and continual growth over the long term."

Spanish teams may have the most consistent play, but financially speaking, it's the English Premier League at the head of the pack. Broadcast licensing, a major source of revenue, is higher there than anywhere else in Europe.

Germany's Bundesliga follows in second place, Hollasch said. In the last season, the Premier League took in $4.9 billion (4.4 billion euros) – the Bundesliga, $2.7 billion (2.4 billion euros).

Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne now plays for Manchester City, after his stint in the BundesligaImage: picture-alliance/dpa/T.Goode

The top league in Germany relies on strong attendance for much of its revenue, growing at 8 percent, said Hollasch. Stadiums are often more than 90 percent full, which other European leagues can only dream of. "Nearly 43,000 people come to the average Bundesliga game. It's a fan magnet."

Not a one-way street

Media rights are the most lucrative source of money for professional football. That's a point in England's favor, and isn't expected to change for the coming season regardless of the Bundesliga's newly negotiated deal. "The DFL will hit a record for selling media rights in the 2017-18 season. A huge increase compared with the previous year," Hollasch said.

However, the Bundesliga still won't come close to the Premier League in this regard. It operates in another universe. The $56 million Manchester City demanded of Schalke for its star, Leroy Sane, is a good example of the disparity and the scale of pay: In all, the 20 Premier League associations have a payroll of more than $3 billion, whereas the 18 Bundesliga teams put out less than half that.

However, there's little fear of Germany losing talent to England. National players Andre Schürrle, Mario Götze and Mats Hummels all transferred to other Bundesliga teams. The German national team's center forward, Mario Gomez, has returned to Germany from Turkey. He will play for VfL Wolfsburg. His former national teammate, Max Kruse, was sold to SV Werder Bremen.

FC Bayern Munich
Only few people would bet money on Bayern not coming out on top this season once againImage: Reuters/M.Rehle

Money from England

Meanwhile, German teams have used the money earned from transfers to England for record investments: Borussia Dortmund, $124 million and FC Bayern, $79. Even VfL Wolfsburg, which struggled last year, was able to hold onto its midfielder star, Julian Draxler, spending more than $56 million on new players. In total, Bundesliga teams have invested about $520 million on players, up from nearly $470 million last year - a 10 percent increase. That does not include transfers still pending before the August 31 deadline.

Tapping new sources

Tickets and Pay-TV are not the only way German clubs earn money. The further internationalization of the "Bundesliga brand" grows ever more important, Hallasch said. During the off-season, FC Bayern was in the US and Schalke 04 in China. Even FSV Mainz 05 made a stateside appearance.

Social media plays a big role in this brand identity strategy. Facebook and Twitter are not only for connecting with fans around the world, Hallasch says, but for investors, too. When the team goes overseas, it "can promote its sponsors there."

'Not a bubble'

The question of bubble economics arises given the mass sums of money and strong growth. Some football insiders such as Arsenal London's "eternal manager," Arsene Wenger, are of this opinion. Hollasch disagrees. He is strongly convinced present growth will continue along its current trajectory, based on how much growth potential remains in the international market.

European football's big money spinners