Bundesliga clubs could lose 750 million euros if season ends prematurely

Bundesliga clubs stand to lose as many as 750 million euros if the remaining eight games of the season are not completed.

The DFL announced yesterday the decision to suspend the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga until April 02 due to the coronavirus pandemic. They still hope to finish the season by the summer, but it still remains to be seen if the situation will improve in the coming weeks.

Now reports say that in the event of a complete cancellation of the current campaign, the financial losses for Bundesliga clubs would be close to a quarter a billion euros. According to BILD, clubs in the league expect to losses in revenue of around 370 million euros from television money, 240 million euros from sponsorships and 130 million euros from ticket sales and stadium revenue if the remaining nine match-days of the season aren’t completed.

The financial losses would especially hurt the smaller teams if the season were to end prematurely. A meeting is set to take place on Monday with clubs from Germany’s top two divisions to determine what will happen moving forward.

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans Joachim Watzke said yesterday that German football is facing its biggest crisis ever. But he added that “any existential threat to Borussia Dortmund can be excluded.”

Watzke said in a statement to the club’s official website:

"“The Presidium of the DFL has made a decision that needs to be respected – regardless of the fact that there would have been other approaches. We all have to do this together in solidarity and discuss the corresponding derivations on Monday.”“Nevertheless, it also applies – depending on what will be decided on Monday – that German professional football is in the greatest crisis in its history.“It is to be hoped that the Bundesliga clubs have built up so much substance in recent years that everyone will survive this crisis.”"

Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge defended the DFL’s initial decision to play this weekend’s matches, warning about the potential impact on smaller clubs’ finances.

Currently only two match-days have been suspended, and the hope is that those matches can be rescheduled. But if this unpredictable situation does not improve in the coming weeks, there is every chance that the remaining games will not be completed.