The Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 have lost more than $1.1 billion in revenue since the pandemic started two years ago.

Sales for the 36 teams dropped 10.5% to nearly $4.5 billion during the 2020-21 season, with reduced ticket income and smaller media rights deals adding to the financial woes. Ticket sales fell roughly 95% compared to the last pre-pandemic season, according to the 2022 DFL Economic Report. 

Clubs also pay roughly $1.4 billion in “taxes and duties overall,” and the leagues’ workforce temporarily dropped by 50%. DFL — or German Football League — CEO Donata Hopften said “new avenues” will need to be explored to “make German professional football future-proof.”

Private Potential

Despite the heavy losses, DFL ended its talks last year with private equity firms in which the latter would purchase a minority stake in a company overseeing the league’s media rights, a deal similar to that of other European leagues.

• Earlier this week, France’s Ligue de Football Professional struck a deal with CVC Capital Partners. The firm will take a 13% stake in the company facilitating the league’s media rights for roughly $1.6 billion.
• CVC Capital Partners formerly entered a similar deal with La Liga for $2.3 billion.

If DFL was to go the private equity route, it would have to follow the “50+1 rule,” which prohibits commercial investors from holding more than 49% of any German club’s voting shares.

A deal to secure funding for a new stadium in Buffalo appears imminent, and most New Yorkers aren’t happy about it. 

A new poll found that the idea of providing $850 million in public funds for a new Buffalo Bills venue is unpopular, with 22% approving against 55% opposed. The remaining 23% declined to give an opinion.

Buffalo residents, however, would be happy to see the project go forward — by a margin of 58% to 31%.

• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a deal on Monday in which the state would chip in $600 million on top of $250 million from Erie County. 
• The state would also be on the hook for $100 million over 15 years in maintenance and repairs, plus $180 million over 30 years in capital improvements. 

Hochul stirred controversy with a plan to use $418 million from a settlement with the Seneca Nation over casino revenue to help fund the stadium.

Florida Connection

While team owners Kim and Terry Pegula will have to cover the balance of the stadium project, it’s unclear how much they will be contributing through their tax dollars. 

The Bills owners spend much of their time living in Florida and have voted there since 2007, according to the New York Post.

Hochul’s husband, Bill Hochul, is an executive at Delaware North, which operates concessions at the Bills’ current Highmark Stadium and reportedly stands to benefit financially from the new stadium deal.

A group of 20 English Football League and non-league soccer clubs have urged the U.K. government to follow through with a blanket ban on gambling-related sponsorships, according to The Telegraph.

Executives from clubs believe soccer has a “moral duty” to cut ties with the gambling industry, and issuing a ban has been discussed for several years. There is a desire to remove betting-related sponsorships and advertisements so as not to induce young fans to gamble. 

• Proposals for a blanket ban are expected to be submitted after April 17.
• A ban on gambling-related deals would cost the EFL only 2.5% in lost revenue.
• None of the 20 Premier League teams would be impacted by the ban. 

The EFL, which has a sponsorship deal with Sky Bet that runs through 2024, saw its Bolton Wanderers club end its relationship with gambling firms last September, sparking other clubs in the league and around Europe to do the same. 

No Worries

Soccer clubs have displayed a willingness to partner with betting brands to help alleviate financial losses caused by COVID. UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, began finalizing a $2.3 billion credit line in October 2021 to help clubs pay for unsettled transfer fees and recover from their losses.

Many believe there are plenty of opportunities to rebound from the losses, as the total value of the European sponsorship market reached $30.8 billion in 2021, an 18% uptick year-over-year. In comparison, the market fell by 23% in 2020.