bundesliga. com takes a closer look at what the rule is and exactly how and why it works. . .
“The German spectator historically has a close bond with his club,” Hans-Joachim Watzke, Borussia Dortmund’s general manager, said in 2016. “And if you feel like you’re no longer recognized as a fan or a customer, we’re going to have a problem. “
The 50:1 rule protects against this. The requirement of the rule refers to the need for the members of a club to own 50 percent, plus an additional vote, of the voting rights, that is, the majority. In short, this means that clubs – and, by extension, fans – have the final say on how they are managed, not an outside influence or investor.
According to the regulations of the German Football League (DFL), football clubs will not be allowed to play in the Bundesliga (or second division) if external investors have more say.
Basically, this means that personal or advertising investors cannot take over clubs and potentially impose measures that prioritise profit over fans’ wishes. The resolution protects owners opposed to reckless ones and safeguards the democratic customs of German clubs.
Historically, German groups were non-profit organizations run through member associations, and until 1998, all personal property was prohibited. The 50-1 rule, enacted that year, is part of the explanation for why debts and wages are low and why prices are low. They are still so low compared to other primary European leagues.
It should be noted that clubs have adapted to those adjustments in other ways, taking on forms of member ownership. Most of the groups we know in the Bundesliga are, in the legal sense, public limited companies or public limited companies, created as subsidiaries. of the club (many of which have other breakdowns adding other sports and/or women’s groups) to oversee the men’s first team. Some are indexed on the stock exchange. And DFL-regulated Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs also follow similar approaches, partly because it makes it easier to comply in the event of promotion.
However, the disadvantage is that the parent club – i. e. the agreement of the members – retains majority control.
Taking the concrete example of Bayern Munich, the shareholders of the men’s first division (FC Bayern München AG) are the member club (FC Bayern München e. V. – 75%), Adidas (8. 3%), Allianz (8. 3%) and Audi (8. 3%). ).
In Dortmund things are organised differently. The members’ club (which had 168,163 members as of November 2022) controls only 4. 61% of Borussia Dortmund GmbH.
And as Watzke, CEO of Borussia Dortmund Geschäftsführungs-GmbH and therefore CEO of the football club, states, the result of this formula is that enthusiasts are not taken for granted.
“The 50-1 rule does much more than harm in Germany,” Watzke told SportBild, before suggesting that as many personal investors as possible would be geared mainly through profits.
“Most clubs probably wouldn’t have Roman Abramovich, who needs to see Chelsea win. Most investors need to make money. And where do they come from?The spectators”.
Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg are two special cases in the Bundesliga, as investors with interests in a club for more than 20 years can gain advantages from an exemption from the 50:1 rule.
Leverkusen was founded in 1904 by staff of the German pharmaceutical company Bayer, founded in the city. VfL Wolfsburg, affiliated with local automakers, was founded in 1945, just seven years after the city was established to house Volkswagen personnel busy assembling the famous Beetle, or “people’s car. “Both clubs have belonged to their respective companies since long before they arrived in the Bundesliga and are therefore exempt, even if not all amateur teams agree with this rule.
Watch: The Bundesliga fan scene continued to thrive even with Covid, as shown through a Borussia-Park filled with cardboard cutouts
More recently, resolution 50-1 has been challenged. In 2009, audience magnate and Hanoverian president Martin Kind tried to cancel it, but 32 of the other 35 professional clubs voted against the proposal. And in 2017, it asked for an exemption from this resolution, which it rejected the following year through the DFL.
Their initial proposal also dates back to RB Leipzig’s founding year, when Austrian energy drink giant Red Bull bought the playing rights of fifth-division team Markranstädt and changed the club’s name. Leipzig then moved up a division to finish second in the Bundesliga in 2016. 17 and qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
But while thousands of Bayern members, who now have more than 300,000 members (the largest number of sports clubs in the world) can vote for Herbert Hainer as club president, for example, a handful (all employees of the parent company) are entitled to the same vote, only in Leipzig.
Another exception was agreed in December 2014, when software billionaire Dietmar Hopp was given the green light to take over the majority stake of Hoffenheim after having invested steadily for two decades in the club he played for as a child.
“The fact that Dietmar Hopp has provided abundant financial support to the club’s professional and amateur groups for more than 20 years was very important when evaluating Hoffenheim’s application,” a DFL said at the time.
However, in early 2023 it was reported that Hopp was preparing to return his majority voting rights to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Fußball-Spielbetriebs GmbH, giving the members a general voting right in control of the club. This would return the club to 50:1 compliance, even if it maintained its position as a majority shareholder. This shows the strength of enthusiasts and also that clubs can change their design to fit it.
While foreign owners are investing billions in other leagues, some German clubs also believe that a replacement (not necessarily the abolition of the rule) is needed to remain globally competitive.
Former Bayern leader and president Uli Hoeneß, whose forward-thinking technique helped the Munich club become the force it is today for several decades, has expressed fears that German clubs could stick financially through their European rivals, given the looser attitudes towards ownership across the continent. He said the decision to open the door to outside investment should be left to individual clubs, perhaps allowing so-called smaller clubs to have a greater chance of competing with more established names.
But others favor maintaining a resolution that helped fill stadiums and create a memorable sporting experience. Watzke told SportBild that he never sought to see German fans “treated” for cash “as they are in England”.
See: The fantastic Union Berlin
But praise for this rule only comes from Germany. At the opening of the 41st DFB Congress in 2013, former UEFA president Michel Platini called the Bundesliga style a style of excellence: “While in the rest of Europe there are boring, half-empty leagues With stadiums and clubs on the verge of bankruptcy, German football is in remarkably health. “
A decade later, this statement is still true, as in Germany there are no news of monetary disorders or violations of Financial Fair Play, while news of economic difficulties and FFP sanctions are not unusual in other leagues in Europe.
Football as it should be
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