Bundesliga clubs must continue their growth into new markets, according to Borussia Dortmund managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke.
Dortmund and rivals Bayern Munich have undertaken pre-season in the United States and Singapore, respectively, as both continue to try and grow their brands outside of Germany.
Watzke, also the chairman of the Deutsche Fussball Liga’s (DFL) supervisory board, is trying to get other German teams, particularly the ones without the stature of Dortmund or Bayern, on board and persuade them that the outlay for expensive, long-range tours is worthwhile.
Speaking to The Athletic ahead of Dortmund’s pre-season friendly with Chelsea in Chicago on Wednesday night, Watzke said: “We are working to convince the other clubs – the smaller clubs – to go the USA or Asia or South America.
“But it’s not so easy, because if you make a journey to the USA, for example, you have costs – €1m, €1.5m – but the smaller clubs will not get the revenues (in return from that trip).”
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The issue is particularly pertinent in German football. Back in May, the top 36 clubs in Germany voted down a DFL proposal to sell a stake in the Bundesliga’s media rights business to private equity firms.
A sale of roughly 12.5 per cent would have generated significant funds to be used on infrastructure and brand-development projects, but would have needed a two-thirds majority to pass. In the event, only 20 of the 24 clubs needed supported the proposal and, for the second time since 2021, a partnership with private equity was rejected.
Watzke says that the plans for now are “on ice”, but still stressed the need to develop the league’s standing in an attempt to combat the financial primacy of, among others, the Premier League.
“We must give the smaller clubs money so that they can go to these big markets in these fantastic countries and cities. That’s the way and I hope that the other big clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt do the same,” he added.
“But at the moment there are two clubs with more interest (in these kind of tours) than the others and that’s Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The others must go the same way, that’s clear.”
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