For clubs like HSV or Frankfurt it's still about 25% of their total income. In the 2. Bundesliga it's even more important. It depends on the individual club how important matchday revenue is, but for most of trhe clubs who are not regular CL participants, it's a crucial source of income right now, even if things might change in trhe future with the new tv contract.
It's not about force feeding them, they can do whatever they like. And if they want to watch the Bundesliga, that's fine as well. Demanding things in Germany do be done differently (and against the wishes of the local fans) goes a bit far though.
If we don't alter the way we do business then it won't be just about domestic vs. intercontinental fans. It'll be about the club and league's stature against others. It'll be about competition and survival. The highest revenue generators i.e. United, Madrid, Barcelona have all found a way to satisfy fans across the globe despite initial grumbles from local fans. Their fan-bases are so big that looking at fans in just Manchester and Madrid doesn't make sense. We'd be hard-pressed to find fans who want Dortmund to rake in less money and become a mid-table club. Even if the fans did want to, as a public company, the shareholders won't allow it. They want and expect annual growth off the pitch which means we need to see success on the pitch.
A league is first for the local population, The joy of the league is to be able to watch the local guy, your friends son, you high school mate etc make the local team and see him in the stadium. If you are now sacrificing this to pander to some fans thousands of miles away, you can as well alternate all the Bundesliga matches in China and US so that you can rake in more TV money while the German fans read about it on the paper or watch on streams With the Man city success they are barely able to fill their stadium despite the money spent, But why should they worry, some fans in Singapore are pleased, If they move City home games to Malaysia very few will miss them they probably will rake in more money. I dont want the Bundesliga to become that league thats for the fans in Shaghai, Zimbabwe and California and not for the German people where the local mechanic cant watch a Hertha Berlin game because they are catering to the desires of the fans 3,000 miles away With the commercial success of the EPL they are becoming less and less English by the day and ignoring the local guy who feels less and less connected to their local league just to satisfy the global fans
If the traditional clubs like Stuttgart, Hamburg, Bremen with long history huge fan bases can get it right with their management and scouting I think the Bundesliga will be fine Stuttgart, Bremen, Hamburg Dortmund Koln, Berlin Schalke Leipzig BmG Frankfurt have enough resources, loyal fanbase and tradition to make a league competitive if they are better managed
I agree with this. The rest of your post I completey disagree with. What people in England have you been speaking to? Fans from which clubs have been complaining? From my experience we are only angry about the ticket prices. We actually think with the TV money they should be put down. Apart from that our clubs love the connection we have with the players. If you actually live in the area, you know that football clubs do so much for the local community, meeting school children, helping local charities. It's not unusual for top players to be walking about. Teams like Totteham and United proudly sing about Kane and Rashford. Palace love having Zaha and Puncheon. Nobody complains about the match times, though as a Palace fan they aren't really disturbed that much. Manchester City fans, generally think they have the best owners in the world. Again the only complaint is the ticket prices. They love what the owners have done for the club and the local area. They love the youth academies and that when their kids get in they are looked after. They loved the investment into the area. Manchester City have always had an incredibly loyal fanbase and it's those same fans that turned up in the 2nd division turn up now. City fans have also tended to be in the poorer parts of Manchester, so when the economy is suffering they can't go to matches as often as they like. You will never please everyone, but apart from ticket prices, English fans are very happy with the Premier League and do feel the connection to their clubs.
I have shown before that this is not true. Premier League clubs dominated the CL from 2004-2009. From 2005-2012 a Premier League team made the final of the CL every year except for 2010. The success of Wales (with actual English players) and France/Belgium shows that it does not tire out international teams either. The fixture congestion around now is due to special reasons. Around the Christmas period apart from universities and schools being on holiday, we have 3 public holidays in the space of a week. If you can get 4 days holiday, then you can have 9 days off. This time is spent at home and we want to be entertained. It's this time period where apart from being with out families we want to watch football. The football clubs listen to the demand of the fans, but it's also the time when gate revenue is at it's highest and TV figures at their highest too. Consequently they cram as many matches as possible. Teams in England have already played 19 games. After the New Year there are less games for English teams than Spanish/Italian/French. Germany does not have this tradition and there's no need for the games around Christmas. Without the extra cup the games can easily be fit around English Weeks. On pure football terms I also think the month off is too long and it leads to injuries and a poor quality of football after January.
Th commercialisation will always come with increased ticket prices and many of the stadium atmosphere is to cater to the tourist fans who are more interested in taking pictures than actually cheering for the team Many of the managers have complained about this lack of atmoshere "Sir Alex Ferguson described Old Trafford as having the atmosphere of a "funeral" when he spoke after Manchester United's 1-0 win over Birmingham City. Carlos Tevez's goal means the champions have won 10 league games in a row on their own ground but Ferguson was distinctly unimpressed with United's supporters, accusing them of letting down the team" https://www.theguardian.com/football/2008/jan/02/newsstory.manchesterunited Despite the best owners City have they still cant fill their stadium and few days to City vs Barcelona, a friend was telling me how the Etihad authorities were almost selling tickets for 50% discount just to get people to fill the stadium in a game vs Europes best team and opportunity to see Messi Suarez and Neymar. The lack of atmosphere at the Etihad is well documented despite the success of City, they cant even get the atmosphere of Leipzig that was just created " http://worldsoccertalk.com/2015/02/27/premier-league-atmosphere-needs-fixing/ Below is an article on how 1,000 English fans travel to watch Dortmund home games http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/10/15/borussia-dortmund-english-fans-visit_n_5987758.html http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/29624410 While the English league fans in Malaysia are having a great time, the local English fans are priced out of seeing the neighborhood kid make the team and having to either watch in pubs or travel to the continent to see football every weekend
Not really true. The commercialisation of the game can actually mean they reduce ticket prices. They can increase a few corporate seats to flock to foreign fans, but they can afford to reduce tickets. The "20 is plenty" initiative has worked and away tickets are capped at £30 for the next 3 years. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35764007 Bayern are a team that want to leave the Bundesliga to make more money and you think commercialisation in England is a bad thing for the league? A lot of teams have bad fans in terms of atmosphere. Arsenal, City and United famously have terrible fans when it comes to making noise. Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Leicester generally have good fans. Go and watch a match at one of those grounds. The truth is with how expensive it is to travel around the UK it is cheaper to fly to Dortmund and watch a game, than say travel from London to Liverpool to watch a game. City fans hate the CL and boo the anthem for a number of reasons: sanctions for being late contrasted with opposition racist fans, refs they feel are against them, fair sanctions. There slow start and hard draws has led to a strange hate relationship with the CL. They have gotten bigger crowds for FA Cup games. Now Tottenham on the other hand sold 85,000 for a CL game against Monaco. Just watch videos of Liverpool fans lining the streets when they had a shot at the title. We are annoyed with the cost of tickets and there are discussions about safe standing, which is a very, very sensitive topic due to Hillsborough. Now that the truth about that has come to light we can move on and introduce standing.
That's what you get when you look at revenue optimization for tickets and then extend that to catering and merchandise sales. McKinsey analysts discovered that ticket revenue stayed the same within a certain albeit wide price band. However, the crowds it attracted were slightly different. In upper parts of the band, it attracted a wealthier crowd but it was more interesting to note that these folks were willing to spend slightly more on catering and at merchandise shops. So overall spend per spectator was higher. This is the reason why Hoeneß refers to fans as cows in England. Furthermore, the higher price increases the brand perception of the overall experience of a football match. And while this last point can be disputed cold hard cash ultimately makes the decision for English clubs like City and Arsenal.
Bayern aren't the only club to want a super league. You don't think English clubs like Chelsea and United want one as well? Using Bayern is a bad example. They will say and do whatever suits them, not the sport or the league. Hell they threatened to join Serie A if they were charged for dealing under the table with Kirch Media. Too bad the DFL didnt have the balls to call them on their bluff.
Attendance for the Premier League are up compared to what they used to be. However, you are correct the more expensive ticket has led to an OLDER, wealthier match goer. These older fans are less likely, to cheer as passionately as teenage men. However, maybe it's because as a Palace fan I too feel these are the glory days of the club, despite the horrific league form in 2016. https://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2015/11/the-atmosphere-question-the-case-of-crystal-palace/ Ultimately though I think we had a terrible hooligan problem in this country and football had to be sanitized. We had a few disasters as well that forced things like no drinking in the stadium and no standing. That and teams have become accustomed to success and are harder to please. Maybe when you charge fans as consumers they begin to act like it at the ground. Teams that have been through bad times tend to appreciate the club more and there are better atmospheres at the ground.
No they don't. English clubs don't want a super league, because the Premier League makes them so much money. I am not naive in this. I know Liverpool particularly and other Premier League clubs were constantly pushing for a Super League prior. The growth and expansion of the Premier League means they don't see the commercial benefit. Should things change they will push for a Super League too. Hence, why it makes me laugh when people think clubs like Bayern or Liverpool are fighting for tradition. I hate Manchester United with a passion, but I have to admit for all their faults they have done a lot for English football. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/european-super-league-would-make-6983027
Don't we know about hooligan problems. We've paid fines nearly every year. Hooliganism is a problem in every country in Europe. Circling back to the original theme. Altering ticket prices to control the demographics of spectators would have no influence on a decision to increase the no. of teams in the league. There's no evidence that adding two more teams in the league will make it better for anybody.
That 5B deal plus La Liga collective rights have silenced them for now. We shall see what happens when La Liga and BL strike their next deals.
Yep they will right back pushing for a Super League. I do think the greed of the football clubs has gone too far and that a European Super League would backfire. It's a step too far. I personally draw a line on that issue. I won't watch a Super League if they break away from the national competitions. Anyway back on topic. I think the issue is whether the match going revenue for the 4 extra games and the extra TV rights will add to revenue. I know the findings 10 years ago said they wouldn't but the money from TV has greatly increased.
I think the current number of teams in the BL is just fine. The problem stems from the inadequate management of traditionally big clubs with a large and stable fan base like Hamburg, Stuttgart, Werder Bremen, Hannover 96, Nurnberg, Kaiserslautern. All of them have had success in the near past but failed to maintain it, in spite of their great assets. IMO, if even half of those clubs were as well run as for example Mainz of Hoffenheim, then we would be watching a BL that could be potentially more competitive than the EPL - a smaller number of teams (albeit well managed, organized and strong ones) could mean smaller margins between the top 4, EL and the mid-table and relegation spots. With smaller margins comes greater competition and more intense matches. The real problem I have is the sheer number of pointless international friendlies throughout the season. All they really do in my view is ruin any momentum clubs might have achieved and increase the risk of unnecessary injuries for the sake of glorified international matches. Add in possible (and very likely) tensions between a player's NT and club when he gets called (and the whole media coverage that intensifies such conflicts even further) and the whole thing is a circus. Besides, weeks with no BL, CL, EL or any club competitions are just plain boring...
Completely agree with BS international matches. There are far too many international tournaments - FIFA qualification, continental cup qualification, meaningless friendlies. The stupid African cup takes place every 3 years. Of course these organizations spin this to players as "representing the country". Which is absolute nonsense.
Basically the problem or area for Improvement for the Bundesliga is the poor management of traditional clubs who are expected to be doing much better