Germany’s top soccer club Bayern Munich is targeting growth in the United States as they strive to close the gap with their big-spending rivals in the English Premier League.
Oliver Kahn, managing director of the dominant German side, said the club was looking to expand its overseas fan base, with a view to increasing the long-term value of the league’s global broadcast rights. Bundesliga soccer.
“For us, it is very important to attract new fans all over the world and to expand our fan base outside of Germany. The United States is a very, very interesting market where we have a lot of fans and whereas Bayern Munich, we see a lot of growth going forward,” Kahn said.
A former captain of Bayern and the German national team, Kahn recently led the team on a brief summer tour of the United States, taking on DC United in Washington and English champions Manchester City in front of nearly 80,000 fans at the Lambeau Field in Wisconsin.
Bayern’s aim is to help stimulate interest in the German league, which is far behind the Premier League in terms of international broadcast rights.
Last year, England’s top tier struck a new six-year deal with US broadcaster NBC for $2.7 billion, nearly double the previous deal. The league now generates more revenue from overseas television deals than domestically. American rights to the Bundesliga are worth around $250m under his current six-year deal with ESPN.
Bayern earned around €254m from broadcast rights last year, according to Deloitte, compared to €335m at Manchester City and €310m at Real Madrid.
“We need better marketing of Bundesliga television rights in the United States – I think that’s the most important point,” Kahn said. “If you look at the valuation of MLS [Major League Soccer] clubs, they have a very high valuation. It shows that football in the United States is growing.
Oliver Kahn: “It’s very important that we can create individual content for different types of fans around the world”
The United States is to co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Juventus, and Chelsea also toured the United States this summer, a sign of growing interest from top clubs in tapping into the US market.
As part of their global push, Bayern last week unveiled a multi-year deal with US tech company Adobe. The partnership is designed to give Bayern a better understanding of how their fans interact with the club online, which Kahn hopes will allow them to reach new supporters.
“Every club and every league needs to produce engaging content for their fans so that we can play a leading role in this football entertainment industry,” he said. “It’s very important that we can create individual content for different types of fans around the world – that’s the key to everything.”
Kahn admitted the Premier League has several significant advantages over the German league, including years of overseas investment, the English language, and stronger competition at the top of the table. Bayern has won the Bundesliga for 10 consecutive seasons.
“The Premier League is a very exciting league. Before the start of the season, I think there are four or five teams that have the chance to win the championship. In the Bundesliga at the moment, we are very dominant at Bayern Munich,” he said. “But it’s not Bayern Munich’s problem, it’s our competitors’ problem.”
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