Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Friday called for higher revenues from broadcasting rights for Bundesliga clubs in order to be able to keep up with the spending power of the English Premier League.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge on Friday called for higher revenues from broadcasting rights for Bundesliga clubs in order to be able to keep up with the spending power of the English Premier League.
Rummenigge said while the current rights deal for the Bundesliga brings in a total of about 500 million euros per season, the next deal to be negotiated should ideally top one billion euros.
"It would be nice if the DFL (German football league) supported by the Bundesliga could turn the 500 million into a one point X deal," Rummenigge told the Sueddeutsche newspaper.
The German annual figure is a fraction of the 1.7 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) that English Premier League clubs will net per season from broadcasters Sky SKYB.L and BT BT.L under a new contract running between 2016 and 2019.
"This new English contract will dominate the market even more than today. I already know what will happen next summer." Rummenigge, a former forward who also heads the European Club Association (ECA), urged a similar competition among broadcasters in Germany that would send the rights revenues soaring. But he warned that under current conditions the Bundesliga would continue seeing some of its best players sold to richer English clubs.
"We have just seen the tip of the iceberg. The transfer tsunami will increase in strength and height," Rummenigge warned with the Bundesliga losing marquee players -- including Bastian Schweinsteiger and Kevin De Bruyne -- to Premier League clubs offering far higher salaries this season.
"I am specifically concerned about our league's competitiveness in the Champions League and Europa League," he said.
The transfer of Bayern Munich's talismanic midfielder Schweinsteiger to Manchester United was worth a reported 17 million euros ($19.18 million).
VfL Wolfsburg's De Bruyne joined Manchester City for a reported 75 million euros -- a German record -- while South Korea forward Son heung-Min, another big Bundesliga name, moved from Bayer Leverkusen to Tottenham Hotspur for 30 million euros.
Manchester United's capture of teenage forward Anthony Martial from Monaco for 36 million pounds ($55.11 million), labelled a panic-buy by sections of the British media, ensured Premier League clubs racked up a record spend of 870 million pounds in the transfer window that closed on Tuesday. Rummenigge was also in favour for a shorter summer transfer window that should end before the season started.
"I would consider it sufficient if the transfer period lasted eight weeks and ended on July 31. The market should shut before the leagues start," he said.
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