Bundesliga investor protests at football matches ramp up

What is going on with the fan protests?

Matches in both the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, Germany's top two football divisions, saw a new front in fan protests against a controversial investor plan.

The plan, which a majority of clubs in the two 18-team leagues approved, involves an outside investor, likely Luxembourg-based financial company CVC, buying a stake in the German Football League (DFL), the company that runs the two leagues.

On Friday, Cologne fans drove remote control cars around the pitch to interrupt their Bundesliga match with Werder Bremen, while several other matches saw similar scenes, including a remote control plane as Freiburg hosted Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

Meanwhile, referee Patrick Ittrich confirmed that the match between Greuther Fürth and Hannover was "very close" to being abandoned after two interruptions. Fürth coach Alexander Zorniger criticized the conduct of the fans, who held up a banner with Harry Potter in the crosshairs, in reference to CVC director Matt Potter. There were also protests in Hertha Berlin's match against Magdeburg.

For several matchdays before this one, some ultra groups have refrained from the usual loud support for their teams in the first few minutes of games. They have also thrown masses of objects onto the pitch: hundreds of chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil, plastic balls or tennis balls. The demonstrations have caused several-minute match stoppages while the objects were cleared from the pitch.

The top-of-the-table clash between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich on February 10 was no exception. Even before that showcase, the match between Union Berlin and Wolfsburg was interrupted for a total of more than half an hour. The public address announcer gave a "final warning" to the fans, saying that if a single tennis ball were again hurled from the stands, the referee would call the game off. The first half concluded with 21 minutes of time added on. 

What is the Bundesliga's plan to bring an outside investor on board all about?

On December 11, 2023, the 36 clubs of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, Germany's top two football divisions, decided to allow an investor to buy into the German Football League (DFL). As the leagues' governing body, the DFL is responsible for organization and marketing. However, the two-thirds majority vote required to adopt the plan was wafer thin, with 24 clubs voting in favor. One fewer vote in favor would have killed the plan, as happened in May 2023 when a similar vote failed to produce a two-thirds majority.

The DFL plan is for it to cede a maximum of 8% of the proceeds from licensing rights to an investor for a period of 20 years. This primarily involves revenue from media rights for the first and second divisions. The price to the investor would around €1 billion ($1.08 billion). 

Most of the money would be used to fund DFL projects, such as the expansion of its streaming services. Who this investor will be is to be determined by the end of March. Two hopefuls remained in the running until February 13, when US investment company Blackstone announced that it was pulling out of the process. This leaves CVC as the sole remaining bidder.

What is at the root of the fan protests?

On the one hand, the fan organizations are strictly opposed to the entry of investors. They see this as the beginning of the end of German football's 50+1 rule, which prevents an outside investor from securing a majority of votes in a club — 50% plus one share must always remain in the hands of the club's members.

Secondly, the fan organizations doubt that everything went according to plan during the DFL vote in December. They suspect that Martin Kind, the managing director of Hannover 96, voted in favor of the investor entry even though the club had asked him to vote against it. He was the particular target of protests during Hannover's match in Hamburg last Friday, with some fans on that occasion holding up a banner showing an image of his face in crosshairs. The entrepreneur has been financially involved with Hannover 96 since 1997 and has been one of the fiercest critics of the 50+1 rule for years. He has declined to reveal which way he actually voted.

How hardened are the fronts?

The DFL sees no reason to reverse the decision made in December. "There is no 'sell-out,' no loss of control and no departure from 50+1 – and therefore no reason for horror scenarios," the DFL stated on February 8.

But as the weeks go by, and abandonment of matches becomes more likely, the tone has changed. "It's ok if week after week week we are peacefully and proportionately reminded of the importance of staying within the red lines in the negotiations," DFL managing director Marc Lenz told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "But if you are referring to possible match abandonments: the clubs and us could not accept that." 

The DFL has invited the fan organizations to further discuss the issue, but this was quickly rejected. "The longer the protests are ignored, the more united we will stand up for a new vote," an alliance of five fan groups including Unsere Kurve ("Our Curve") said in a joint statement posted via social media.

Kristina Schroeder from the organization added: "German football's member-based clubs make it special," before explaining that the protests sought to re-assert that "members and fans are an important part of football and must be included in far-reaching decisions."

At the weekend, players also spoke up on the issue. "Everyone knows football without fans wouldn’t be what it is," said Borussia Dortmund captain and Germany international, Emre Can. "But if I can express my opinion, I think at some point, enough. We’re suffering very much through it & losing our rhythm. Therefore I hope it comes to an end soon."

How are the clubs positioning themselves?

In view of the many and long interruptions to matches, the clubs are slowly but surely losing patience. Claus Vogt, who, as president of Bundesliga club Stuttgart, said he had voted in favor of investors coming on board in December, recently called for the vote to be repeated.

"This would be a first step that also takes the interests of the fans seriously and can calm the situation in the stadiums," said Vogt. A handful of clubs, including first-division club Union Berlin and second-division clubs Hertha BSC and Hannover 96, initially supported the Stuttgart club boss's proposal, while Cologne, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and several others have called for the decision to return to them this week.

However,  Eintracht Frankfurt CEO Axel Hellmann has previously reiterated the DFL's refusal to repeat the vote.

"Because this resolution has come into legal force, we can't simply say that we will vote again," he told Welt TV.

"A new vote would be open to legal action from all the other clubs involved," added Hellmann, who is also a member of the DFL's executive committee.

This article was originally published on February 10, 2024. It has been updated to reflect potential investor Blackstone's announcement on February 13, 2024 that it has withdrawn from the bidding process and on February 17, 2024 to reflect further developments, including new protests and clubs asking for the decision to revert to them.