German league boss expects clubs to lose two billion euros

The boss of the German Football League (DFL) warned Monday he expects Bundesliga clubs to have lost around two billion euros ($2.4 billion) in turnover by the 2021/22 season.

To put that into perspective, in the 2018-19 season the revenue generated by the 18 Bundesliga clubs exceeded four billion euros for the first time.

The coronavirus pandemic costs Germany’s top clubs millions of euros in lost matchday revenue for each game currently played behind closed doors.

It is predicted the loss of turnover for this season alone will be around one billion euros, spread between the league’s top clubs.

Numbers of new cases of the coronavirus are currently high in Germany and DFL managing director Christian Seifert has warned clubs that fans may not be able to return this season.

“Last season was a mild breeze at best, but now the storm is coming,” Seifert said in Frankfurt.

“This season we must expect an almost total loss of spectator revenues,” which would cost Germany’s top clubs around 650 million euros this season.

Seifert also predicts a slump in the German transfer market.

The DFL generates an average of 1.1 billion euros per season for broadcasting rights in German-speaking countries.

However, international revenues have recently dropped from around 250 to 180 million euros per season.

Money from broadcasting rights are by far the largest source of income for German clubs.