Marketing: Hoeneß sees billion-dollar potential

Uli Hoeneß sees potential in the marketing of Bundesliga rights, which is worth billions. “Maybe one day Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Disney, Google or Netflix will join them. (…) If they discover football for themselves, we’ll talk about quite different amounts,” the president of Bayern Munich told the business paper Euro am Sonntag.

Half a billion, one billion do not play a role in these companies. Then we could reach dimensions we can’t even imagine today.” In the TV marketing period 2017 to 2021, the German Football League (DFL) will generate total revenues of EUR 4.64 billion through the allocation of national media rights.

In view of the potential, Hoeneß (67) misses some large traditional clubs all the more painfully. “It’s a drama that the Hamburger SV, the VfB Stuttgart and the 1st FC Nürnberg are not there,” he said, and he spoke of a “catastrophe”. With these teams, the Bundesliga would be “even more popular and attractive”.

Hoeneß did not want to comment on his future. “I will announce my decision to the Supervisory Board on August 29. There was no official explanation from me before,” he affirmed. It is expected that Hoeneß will no longer run for office and will therefore also resign from his position on the supervisory board. His successor in both positions will be former adidas CEO Herbert Hainer.