The Bundesliga is getting the backing of US media and entertainment group Relevent as it looks to grow its TV rights and sponsorship – starting with plans for its clubs to tour the US next summer.
Relevent, founded by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M Ross, already has deals with European football’s governing body UEFA, Spain’s La Liga and the English Football League (EFL). After Relevent was blocked from bringing La Liga fixtures to the United States in 2018, it battled world soccer’s governing body FIFA and the United States Soccer Federation in the courts. FIFA has now been removed from the lawsuit after saying it was prepared to review its policies, opening the door to the possibility of domestic football fixtures being played abroad. Relevent and La Liga declare their intention to bring competitive play to the United States as soon as possible.
German football is considered more conservative but the German Football League (DFL, which organizes Germany’s top two divisions) is looking to maximize returns in the US market as world football turns its sights to North America for the 2025 Club World Cup and the World Cup . in 2026.
German sides must abide by ’50+1′ rules, effectively meaning that at least half of the voting rights at a Bundesliga club must be held by the clubs’ members. This created a greater degree of supporter power and input, perhaps exemplified by the fact that neither Bayern Munich nor Borussia Dortmund accepted an invitation to join the breakaway Europa League in 2021.
Borussia Dortmund fans partly own their club (Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images)
However, Germany’s top flight has also experienced significantly less growth in the US than its rivals in the English Premier League and La Liga. The Bundesliga’s US television deal with ESPN is worth around $30m (£22.6m) a year, compared to the Premier League’s $450m a year with NBC, partly explaining why the spending power across German clubs is lower than their English equivalents. That ESPN agreement is valid until the end of the 2025-26 season, after which Relevent will arrange the sale of rights across the Americas over several rights cycles.
In a press release on Thursday, the DFL and Relevent said they will soon build a Bundesliga Americas group to “significantly expand their marketing and sales activities in the region – including North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean”.
The statement added: “With branches in New York and Guadalajara (Mexico) and a significant expansion of the existing staff, the Bundesliga America team will be closer to local markets and media companies, and will produce cross-media content that will adapt material to the . interests and trends of the region and focuses on Bundesliga players from these countries.”
During a Zoom call with The Athletics on Wednesday, DFL leader Steffen Merkel insisted that there is “still a lot of untapped potential for us in the US market”. Mario Gomez, the technical director of Red Bull Soccer said The Athletics during RB Leipzig’s pre-season tour of the United States that the league needs to do more to extend interest beyond Bayern Munich, who won 11 Bundesliga titles in a row until Bayer Leverkusen finished top last season.
Gomez said in August: “A lot of people (internationally) love watching Bayern Munich but the rest of the Bundesliga? Not so much. We want people in Asia or in the US to watch the Bundesliga, not just Bayern Munich.”
The Bundesliga wants to show it is about much more than Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich (Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images)
DFL CEO Merkel said this week that Gomez was “right” in his analysis and one way the Germans are looking to improve their track record is by bringing a tournament to the United States during pre-season next summer. Relevent previously helped the English clubs by bringing the “Summer Series” to the United States, in which six Premier League sides played a tournament in North America during the summer of 2023. Relevent is looking to repeat the trick and put Manchester United and Liverpool. the ticket next summer but faces internal challenges from within English football.
As for Germany, one challenge is how three of its recently successful teams – Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig – will be busy next summer playing in the Club World Cup. That would open the door for last season’s champions Bayer Leverkusen, coached by former Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso, as potential participants for a Bundesliga-run tournament in pre-season. Merkel said: “The teams not participating in the Club World Cup next year are very motivated to come to the United States and start this partnership.”
Given the strength of home fans in Germany, would the Bundesliga rule out taking its competitive games abroad?
Merkel said The Athletics: “German clubs have very strong rules, also because of the ’50+1′ rule and the interaction of fans with the clubs, even the ownership of clubs by fans.
“You made a specific reference to the approach that La Liga wants to take in the United States. I respect La Liga’s approach but it would be more difficult in Germany. While I see the benefits from a marketing point of view, our focus has to be on things that are realistic . And that’s my perspective at the moment – not competitive games, but rather bringing more clubs to the US consistently before the season and focusing on that in the first step.”
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In 2022, Relevent brokered a $1.5 billion deal for Paramount Global to broadcast UEFA club competitions in the United States for the next six years and also negotiated on behalf of La Liga to secure an eight-year $1.4 billion media rights deal with the ESPN+ streaming service in the United States and Canada. It recently brokered a contract for Paramount to broadcast the EFL, and has joint ventures with La Liga and the EFL to market their products in the States.
The Ross portfolio of sports and entertainment companies includes the Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium (which hosted the Copa America final and is a 2026 World Cup venue), Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix and Miami Open Tennis.
In a press release, Relevent President Boris Gartner said: “This partnership marks a significant step forward in Relevent’s mission to bring the best of international football to audiences in the Americas and help grow the sport. The long-term nature of this collaboration will allow us to expand the Bundesliga’s presence in the region by leveraging our expertise and networks We want to create new touchpoints for fans and partners to experience and engage with one of the world’s most historic and celebrated leagues, featuring some of the most dedicated and vigorous supporters of the sport worldwide.”
(Top photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
