Bundesliga sets out India goals
GERMAN LEAGUE KEEN TO ENGAGE WITH CLUBS AND FANS
GERMANY’S top-flight football league, the Bundesliga, is seeking to tap into the Indian market by encouraging clubs from the competition to have a presence like some of them have in China, while actively engaging with fans, according to a top official.
Bundesliga International, a full subsidiary of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga, is responsible for driving the internationalisation of the league. It is working with its broadcast partner Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) to engage with fans on the ground while looking to bring some of the top German clubs to play against Indian clubs from the ISL (Indian Super League) or I-League teams.
“Football has a big part to play in India. You’ve got cricket, number one for sure. You’ve got kabaddi, which is doing an incredible job, but football is the third-biggest sport behind that and growing rapidly and it’s so easy to play and so accessible,” Bundesliga International CEO Robert Klein said when asked about the potential of the India football market.
He added, “We want to grow the Bundesliga brand. We want you to know not just about (Borussia) Dortmund and Bayern (Munich), but also about (RB) Leipzig, which is doing incredible stuff, and (Bayer 04) Leverkusen – they’re having a great season. These are the teams that are scoring more goals than any other league in the world.”
Stating that fans were coming back after the Covid-19-induced absence from the stadium, he said, “And we want to share that passion and also help build Indian football together.”
Stating that while the football markets of India and China – where Bundesliga has been partners with national broadcaster CCTV for over 23 years – are similar, Klein said the Bundesliga had a greater presence in China. Six of the league’s clubs have offices there while there are none in India at the moment, though clubs do run official activities in the country.
Klein said: “We want to be on the ground to be able to actively engage with the fans, with your partners. That requires investment and time but in the end, it should be the goal with the market the size of India. It is a big market.
“We are getting closer and working with the local leagues. We are in conversations to do that because there’s a crossover for sure, between an ISL fan and Bundesliga fans, as long as they know about each other and they see programmes developed together.”
In the longer term, he said, Bundesliga will also work actively with the German clubs to bring them to India, “ideally to also play against an ISL team or an ILeague team, so that there’s a real connection because people want to be able to touch and feel the clubs and the superstars. The sooner that we can travel, the sooner we will be able to do that.”
Klein, who said he was bullish on the Indian football market despite competition from the English Premier League (EPL), added, “We know the EPL strength in India, but from the research that we do regularly, including in India, we are the fastest-growing league in terms of fan engagement. So in terms of growth, (although) we’re coming from a different base, we know that there is a fan base.”
He also said Bundesliga International was looking forward to working closely with SPN, with which it has signed a twoyear pact for exclusive media rights to broadcast the premier German football league in India and the subcontinent, not just in bringing live matches but also activities at the grassroots.
“Our ambition, plans and discussions with Sony are to bring legends to India. That doesn’t mean they will just come and say hello, shake your hand. It’s actually to create some grassroots events around it, training programmes for Indian football fans,” he said.
Bundesliga was keen to have a very good presence with the live environment in India through Sony, but Klein added, “We also work very actively with our licensees in terms of… we want to get public viewings. We wanted to be able to bring our legends over and create a big buzz once or twice a year and for that, we need to have a partner who’s going to be able to engage.”