Der Spiegel reports about DEL

[Gianpaolo]

Der Spiegel, a German weekly news magazine, reported recently about the situation in the DEL.
Apparently, the existence of the league depends only from some very rich people who are investing a lot of money without any financial returns but just for the passion for the game of hockey.

Here below the link in German:
Eishockey in Deutschland: Unterkühltes Geschäft

Click to read more...

 

[Albatros]

I don't think the situation with the Scorpions was somehow all too representative, the club attracted well under 5,000 spectators as reigning champions despite playing at an arena that would have seated more than twice as many. Their concept never really worked and that's why they failed.

Also, I don't think that the motives of Mattenschiss & co. can be simply reduced to love of hockey.

 

[geisterpanthers]

Yea the system is just like that, certain clubs are relying on those investors injecting money. The thing is the league actually isn't depended on them at all, I mean if all of those investors were gone by tomorrow, some of the clubs would vanish of course but just to be replaced by self-sustaining teams. There would be less money in the game, the level of competition would be somewhat lower but hockey would still be played and I doubt that attendance and overall interest in hockey would drop off too much even.

Besides that even in the big German football Bundesliga there are companies or certain sugar daddies injecting money, Wolfsburg (Volkswagen), Leverkusen (Bayer), Leipzig (Red Bull- just like Red Bull Munich in Hockey) just to name a few. I'm certain all those teams I named would disappear in no time if the cash flow from outside would dry up

 

[Albatros]

And Grizzlys Wolfsburg in hockey, in recent years they were twice in a row in the finals and yet their average attendance has never reached 3,000. It's hard to see much upside in this investment unless you're a VAG worker forced to live in that dreary town. But for German hockey it wouldn't be any worse to have a DEL2 club like Löwen Frankfurt or Kassel Huskies (or even f***ing Bietigheim Steelers) replace them. Likewise in the Oberliga there are clubs with fairly strong following like Hannover Indians that could step up.

 

[geisterpanthers]

And Grizzlys Wolfsburg in hockey, in recent years they were twice in a row in the finals and yet their average attendance has never reached 3,000. It's hard to see much upside in this investment unless you're a VAG worker forced to live in that dreary town. But for German hockey it wouldn't be any worse to have a DEL2 club like Löwen Frankfurt or Kassel Huskies (or even ****ing Bietigheim Steelers) replace them. Likewise in the Oberliga there are clubs with fairly strong following like Hannover Indians that could step up.

Yea, those teams that are just in the DEL because of their rich sugar daddy backing them financially would disappear and teams who have a better support, draw larger crowds would move up into the DEL. That model would be totally sustainable, they couldn't spend more than they earn and it would still work, same DEL, lower payrolls, hence slightly weaker players, but the average fan doesn't attend the games anyway because they want to see a very high level of play.

 

[Fremitus Borealis]

Yeah, I have always wondered what the "worst case scenario" for German hockey really is if the "sugar daddy" situation went away. If most teams aren't really profitable, what happens to the DEL if a bunch of these guys pull the plug? Would player salaries jump and cause even more franchises to be even less sustainable, if the league shrinks by more than a few teams? Might it actually end up being *better* for German hockey in the long run (if not-so-good for those non-German pros who are looking for somewhere to play), giving more Germans a roster spot?

I know what you mean about all the "lower level" teams who seem to have a much better following than the top DEL teams. Those fans would still go to the games no matter what level the play was, so would it really be the worst thing in the world if SC Riessersee or Tölzer Löwen were in the DEL?

 

[masa2009]

I'm surprised, the article says that the average salary in the DEL is 150K, that's more than I thought.

 

[Albatros]

Yeah, the salaries are among the best in Europe which is why you almost never see German players try it abroad unless they're prospects looking for a career in North America.

 

[Halfdan]

Salaries have reached a dimension in €, which is why the Bundesliga almost went bankrupt in DM. To stop this, the DEL was founded in 1994.
So much for the argument that foreign players are much cheaper than German players.
Currently, a trend towards younger German players has begun. Not voluntarily, but as a guideline for the promotion of young German players and not least to get the salary spiral under control.

 

[Rigafan]

Salaries have reached a dimension in €, which is why the Bundesliga almost went bankrupt in DM. To stop this, the DEL was founded in 1994.
So much for the argument that foreign players are much cheaper than German players.
Currently, a trend towards younger German players has begun. Not voluntarily, but as a guideline for the promotion of young German players and not least to get the salary spiral under control.

Same thing happens in the UK. Germany has a MUCH better junior system and better overall level of hockey but there are so few good UK players for the top EIHL league that their salaries are way to inflated, and again this is why UK players never go abroad.