Formally, the expenditures for players’ agents and staff at the Bundesliga clubs fell significantly in the first 2019/20 season affected by Corona. A calculation example makes it clear that this could only be due to the descent of two heavyweights.
The ruble continues to roll in the Bundesliga.
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According to the DFL’s financial figures, the 18 clubs that will start in the Bundesliga in the future spent 193.6 million euros on player agents in 2019/20. At Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfB Stuttgart, 2020 as a whole is the benchmark because this quartet does not balance according to season, but according to calendar. As in 2018/19, Borussia Dortmund spent the most with 38.6 million euros (previous year: 44.5). This is followed by FC Bayern (32.6 million; previous year: 30.3), RB Leipzig (19.4 million; previous year 13.7), TSG Hoffenheim (17.2 million; previous year: 7.2) and Bayer Leverkusen (15.1 million; previous year: 13.6).
Personnel expenses were 1,692.4 million euros, or just under 1.7 billion euros. This ranking is led by the record champions from Munich (339.8 million; previous year: 356.1) ahead of BVB (215.2 million; previous year: 205.1), Leipzig (147.1 million; previous year 125.2 ), Leverkusen (139.8 million; previous year: 136.6) and Wolfsburg (124 million; previous year: 131.4). In 2018/19 the Bundesliga clubs had invested 1,778.6 million euros in their staff, and the expenses for agents were also significantly higher at 215.2 million euros.
Reliable conclusions cannot (yet) be drawn
Can one draw the conclusion of a pandemic-related austerity course from this? There is no reliable answer (yet). The figures for the season just ended should allow a much clearer conclusion, but they will not be published for twelve months. “Some clubs have so far made too little in terms of spar salaries. If you don’t deal with money as you should, you only fail at a higher level,” DFL boss Christian Seifert criticized in December 2020. That does not necessarily mean that a rigid austerity course can be expected.
Schalke and Werder distort the picture
And yet another aspect makes it clear that the supposedly high declines of 21.6 million euros in consultant payments and 86.2 million euros in salaries should be treated with caution for the time being: If you count the relegated Schalke (110 million euros). ) and Werder (70.6 million) with their comparatively high salary levels, instead of the minimalist promoters from Fürth (13.3 million) and Bochum (17.4 million), the personnel expenses would be 1,842.3 million, would have risen.
A different trend would also be obtained with the commissions for the agents: Schalke showed 12.1 million euros here, Werder 5.8 million euros. The values of the two relegated entrants and the two ascenders Fürth (0.8 million) and Bochum (0.9 million) would result in commission payments of 209.8 million – that is, only a decrease of 5.2 million euros.
