THEY play in red and white, moved to a new stadium in 2005, argue for Financial Fair Play and always return a profit.
They’ve not won a trophy in years. They charge around £100 a ticket.
And then there is Arsenal.
Bayern Munich visit the Emirates tomorrow as the Bundesliga’s super-team and Europe’s strongest club financially.
Debt-free and boasting the fourth- highest annual turnover in club football. Like Arsenal,
Bayern charge £95 a ticket.
The thing is at Bayern that is for a SEASON TICKET not a single match.
Bayern, Champions League finalists in two of the last three years, have not won a trophy in two years. To them that feels more like eight years.
So last summer they spent a club record £32million to buy Javi Martinez, a defensive midfielder from Athletic Bilbao. A squad player for Spain.
His is not really a name to sell millions of shirts or help the club conquer the Far East markets. Yet they are now 15 points clear of back-to-back champs Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga.
They turned over around £320million last season — £70m more than Arsenal. Their profit was just £9m as they invest “everything back in the team.”
The three men who have made it happen are Germany and Bayern legends Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (president) and Uli Hoeness (chairman of the board) plus financial guru Karl Hopfner.
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis sits next to Rummenigge at the European Club Association, the main driving force for FFP.
Hopfner moved upstairs as vice-president last month after almost 30 years as financial director. They have turned a profit for all but one of the last 23 years.
He said: “Money scores goals. It is my firm conviction. Quality has a cost.” Landing Pep Guardiola as boss from next summer was the pinnacle of his career.
But Hopfner added: “A signing alone cannot be the crowning moment. Titles and trophies are. Two years without a title is like an eternity. A third year is not on.”
Bayern pay £20m a season towards their Allianz Arena since 2005 while Arsenal pay £25m a year (since 2006) for their new stadium.
In that time though Bayern have also signed Franck Ribery — after Arsene Wenger passed — Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger plus £25m on Mario Gomez.
Two years ago they spent £19m to buy Manuel Neuer because they needed a top keeper — the second biggest fee for a No 1 behind Juventus’ £32.7m Gigi Buffon. Last week Peter Schmeichel dubbed Neuer the “best keeper in the world.”
Ribery also cost around £18m. Not really prohibitive even for Arsenal.
Despite their huge lead at the top of the Bundesliga, on Friday night at Wolfsburg Bayern played a full-strength side even though they were due to face Arsenal and won 2-0.
Arsenal, trophyless for eight years, played 18 hours later, fielded a weakened team against Blackburn and got knocked out of the FA Cup.
Two global German giants, a sportswear company and a car manufacturer own 9.1 per cent of the club each. The rest belongs to the club’s members, ie the fans.
The Allianz Arena holds around 71,000 — just over 67,000 for European matches because of UEFA restrictions.
There are only 35,000 season-ticket holders because Bayern want to expand their fan base, not just ensure money at the coffers.
Hoeness said: “If the same people come every week you don’t win over any more new fans.”
They keep 12,000 season-tickets very cheap. Standing tickets!
Now, Ivan, ask any Gooner tomorrow would they want to stand and shout for their club and pay £100 a YEAR and see what they say.
NB: Gazidis’ £900,000 bonus from last year would buy 9,000 cheap Bayern season tickets. Or 90,000 match-day tickets priced as low as £10 each.
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Jest da je ovo jedan tabloid napisao ali jako lijepo vidjenje situacije
