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FinAnCeS And LiCenSing l Sound And weAtHerprooF
obviously, given the current economic
downturn, the Bundesliga clubs cannot take any
continuation of such a dynamic development
for granted. however, if there is one thing that
does give German professional football reasons
to be upbeat about the future, then it is the fact
that income will continue to flow from three
almost equally important sources – match-day
takings, advertising income and the exploitation
of media rights, jointly accounting for more than
three quarters of total revenue. this means that
professional football in Germany stands on a
firm and broad foundation and is not overly
dependent on any single stream of income.
cLuBs cAn Afford to invEst
in PLAyErs
Looking at the investments made, two items
showed a particularly marked increase – payroll
costs for match operations, consisting of the
wages for players and managers (up 20.7 per
cent) and player transfers (up 23.8 per cent).
following several years of restraint and encouraged
by a healthy flow of income, the 36 clubs of
the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 adopted slightly
Diego Ribas da Cunha
the 23-year-old Bremen
midfield schemer is one
of the german league‘s
undisputed stars and
scored the ‘goal of the
Year 2007’, an awe-
in spiring strike from
almost 70 yards.
wiLLing to inVeSt
Bundesliga – transfer costs in ¤ ‘000
200
150
100
140,336
04/05
bolder spending patterns prior to and during the
2007/2008 season, wisely refraining from living
beyond their means, though. And there’s no doubt
that the addition of stars of the calibre of Luca
toni and franck ribéry to fc Bayern Munich‘s
squad has added a lot of sparkle to the league.
+ 17 %
year-on-year
05/06
143,805
06/07
164,480
192,359
07/08
StAte oF tHe BundeSLigA diViSionS SuBSidiArieS BundeSLigA-StiFtung LiCenSed CLuBS FACtS & FigureS
on the other hand, transfer revenue has seen
a striking increase of 67 per cent in the Bundesliga
and even 125 per cent in the Bundesliga 2.
this goes to show that professional football
in Germany produces more and more sought-
after players who ‘sell’ for high fees on the transfer
market. Looking at the 2007/2008 season,
cases in point are Miroslav Klose‘s move from
werder Bremen to fc Bayern Munich and owen
hargreaves’ transfer from fc Bayern Munich to
Manchester united to name but a few.
thanks to their prudent budgeting, the clubs
of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 managed to
reduce total liabilities and provisions to ¤ 571.6
million in the 2007/2008 season, the lowest figure
in the past four years, and a decrease by 4.7 per
cent compared to the previous season. Liabilities
due to banks, which stood at ¤ 117.3 million on
30 June 2005, were reduced by an impressive
63 per cent to ¤ 43.3 million as at 30 June 2008.
As at the balance sheet date (30 June 2008),
the 18 Bundesliga clubs‘ total assets exceeded
liabilities by ¤ 430 million. including the Bundesliga
2’s total net assets of ¤ 75 million, net
assets of licensed football total more than half
a billion euros.
Boom in trAnSFerS
Bundesliga – transfer revenue in ¤ ‘000
150
90
30
04/05
47,839
+ 66.5 %
year-on-year
05/06
92,489
06/07
reduCing deBt Liabilities in ¤ ‘000
2008 469,453
2007 510,323
2006 569,341
2005 535,292
77,463
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000
128,993
07/08
ProfEssionALisAtion of BundEsLiGA 2
wELL on coursE
the development of the financial situation in the
Bundesliga 2 was so encouraging that earnings
reached a new dimension in the 2007/2008
season – for the first time, the average income
per club surpassed ¤ 20 million. Equally, for the
first time in four years the Bundesliga 2 was able
to raise its share in total revenue generated by
licensed football to 19 per cent. this roughly corresponds
to the share paid out to the Bundesliga
2 clubs from the revenue generated from the
central marketing of media rights, which in the
2008/2009 season are allocated in keeping with
a distribution key of 80:20.
compared to the previous season, payroll
costs for match operations in 2007/2008 rose
by more than 31 per cent, averaging ¤ 8.8 million
per club. while this signals an all-time high, it is
somewhat reassuring to know that this figure
still remains below the increase in total revenue.
in a way, it also reflects the line adopted by
the likes of Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1899
hoffenheim and 1. fc Köln, all of whom made
considerable investments to achieve promotion,
a risk well taken in all three cases. And last but
50 BACK BundEsLiGA rEPort 2009
BundEsLiGA rEPort 2009 51