Hard times

World Cup buoys Bundesliga amid financial crisis

Michael Ballack joined Bayern for 6.3 million euros from Leverkusen. Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Germany's Bundesliga begins Friday buoyed by the national team's surprise passage to the World Cup final although a 20 percent decline in television revenue has already made its mark.

Two clubs, including champion Borussia Dortmund, have considered wage cuts for players and staff and more can be expected to follow before the season is out.

Dortmund also reached the final of the UEFA Cup last season, but that has not shielded the club from the financial impact of the collapse of media giant Kirch and the renegotiated television deal that followed.

Captain Stefan Reuter and World Cup squad member Sebastian Kehl said players would have to accept the new reality and that all employees, including themselves, might have to take a hit.

In the end, the club declared itself solid enough to weather the storm, although it may need a good run in the Champions League to avoid cost savings and much reduced player bonuses.

At VfB Stuttgart, however, the shortfall appears more severe and the club's board has tried to push through salary cuts. Negotiations are continuing.

Top-flight players elsewhere may have avoided pay cuts, but many clubs have dramatically reduced their squads. Hansa Rostock has shed 13 players on free transfers.

The plight of second division clubs is bleaker. The players of Karlsruhe, Alemannia Aachen and Greuther Fuerth have already agreed to a drop in salaries, while Eintracht Frankfurt narrowly avoided relegation to the lowly regional league due to the poor state of its finances.

The cash crunch seems incredible after the boom of recent seasons. Only two years ago, Kirch paid more than 1.5 billion euros (US$1.48 billion) for the Bundesliga rights until 2004 after a bidding war that doubled prices from the previous deal.

Yet Kirch collapsed under huge debts after failing to recoup its initial outlay through pay TV which has failed to take off.

World Cup boost

It could have been far worse had the German national side not surprised almost everyone, including perhaps itself, by reaching the final of the World Cup.

It is hard to quantify the impact the national side's run has had on the league, but Dortmund coach Matthias Sammer said Germany's successful World Cup campaign would undoubtedly help the Bundesliga.

"It has assured the standing of the league. That's very important now at the time of the Kirch crisis," he said.

The national team's performance has had a positive effect on season ticket sales at the top clubs.

Dortmund president Gerd Niebaum believes the club may sell more than 45,000 season tickets and is looking forward to next season when the capacity of its Westphalia Stadium will reach 83,000.

Schalke has sold all its home tickets for the first half of the season, while Hertha Berlin passed its previous record of 16,500 season tickets sold by mid-July.

World Cup stars are the chief draw.

Bayern can flaunt German captain and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, voted best performer at the World Cup, and Michael Ballack, Germany's best outfield player, bought from Bayer Leverkusen.

Leverkusen still has Bernd Schneider and Oliver Neuville as well as Brazil's World Cup winning defender Lucio.

Borussia Dortmund has added Torsten Frings and boast a host of Brazilians, while Hertha Berlin may have lost German playmaker Sebastian Deisler, but has gained Brazilian striker Luizao.

Trophy-less Bayern stirred

Bayern Munich once again start as favorite to win an 18th league title despite failing to win a trophy last season for the first time since 1995. Its third place finish means it must go through the qualifying round to enter the Champions League.

Since then it has backed up tough talk with hard cash, raiding rival Bayer Leverkusen for Ballack and mercurial Brazilian wing back Ze Roberto.

Bayern will also have Deisler, bought from Hertha Berlin, although the playmaker's right knee may not have recovered before the winter break.

"We have enough motivation to get back where we belong. Our aim is to be champions," said coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.

Its main challenge is likely to come from Dortmund which has added Argentine midfielder Juan Ramon Fernandez and German Frings.

However, it might just find European competition a greater distraction in the year ahead. Dortmund is keen to progress to the second round of the Champions League having failed for the past two years.

Bayer Leverkusen, runner up in three competitions last season, is talking of this season as a transitional year, but has added Brazilian internationals Franca in attack and defender Juan.

The opening matches should provide an early test of the top teams' credentials. Dortmund opens the season Friday hosting Hertha Berlin which won the League Cup, the traditional prelude to the season. Hertha beat Dortmund and Bayern in its passage to the final.

Bayern again starts its campaign against Borussia Moenchengladbach, which stunned it 1-0 on the opening day of last season.

"We were trying to catch up all season after losing those three points... This time we must reach top gear right from the start. Everyone has to play at their full potential," said Kahn.

Opening fixtures

    Friday, August 9:
 Borussia Dortmund         v Hertha Berlin    (1800)
    Saturday, August 10 (all 1330):
 Energie Cottbus           v Bayer Leverkusen
 Nuremberg                 v VfL Bochum     
 Borussia Moenchengladbach v Bayern Munich  
 VfB Stuttgart             v Kaiserslautern 
 Schalke 04                v VfL Wolfsburg  
    Sunday, August 11 (both 1530):
 Hamburg SV                v Hanover 96       (1530)
 Arminia Bielefeld         v Werder Bremen    (1530)
    Wednesday, August 14:
 TSV 1860 Munich           v Hansa Rostock    (1645)

 

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