Table of Contents
- What is the 50+1 rule in the Bundesliga?
- Why is the 50+1 rule necessary?
- Is the 50+1 rule a fair method of governance in soccer?
- Is the 50+1 rule in soccer employed anywhere outside of Germany?
- Does RB Leipzig have 50+1?
- Recap: The 50+1 rule in soccer
Club ownership is an important issue and can even be contentious among fans and the league. We’ve seen what can happen when those in charge of the clubs don’t share the same values as the fans i.e. the European Super League proposals.
That being said, in the money-crazed modern world of soccer, fans won’t accept ownership that doesn’t spend sufficiently to improve the squad and, therefore, the club’s prospects going forward, so there’s a balance to be struck.
In this article, we will look at one country’s policy regarding ownership in particular: Germany. Here we will examine what the 50+1 Rule is and what it means for German clubs.
What is the 50+1 rule in the Bundesliga?
In Germany, the 50+1 Rule means that 50% of the overall ownership of a soccer club, plus one additional voting right, must be possessed by club members i.e. the fans.
External investment is allowed at Bundesliga clubs, but those investors can have no more than under 50% of control.
Granting the fans a majority of the votes keeps them in control of the club’s interests, avoiding decisions that might be made by owners who aren’t necessarily fans and might hold a different set of values to the fans.
As the Bundesliga describes it, fan engagement is vitally important to supporters, who are the stakeholders at the club that will remain a constant. In fact, clubs with a majority external ownership are forbidden from competing in the top two divisions in Germany.
Why is the 50+1 rule necessary?
The governing bodies in Germany deem the 50+1 Rule necessary because the most important people at any club are the fans and they should therefore have the biggest say about the way their club operates.
Generally speaking, German fans don’t want decisions made by a person or group that might value personal financial gain over success on the field.
Ticket prices in Germany are notoriously low compared to other countries. One big reason for this is that, as club members are fans, they wouldn’t sanction unreasonable price hikes.
Removing the 50+1 Rule from the league threatens these low prices and could see them follow in the footsteps of leagues like the Premier League.
There are some critics to the rule, however. Voices across Europe claim that by limiting external investment to below 50% of a club, German clubs will lose pace with their continental rivals.
When you consider the spending in the Premier League, for instance, it’s obvious that without financial injections and decisions being made by those with the money, it limits what is spent and where.
Is the 50+1 rule a fair method of governance in soccer?
In theory, the 50+1 Rule is a fair way of ensuring that external investors don’t make drastic choices regarding the club’s direction. It seems like a fair deal for fans in Germany.
As a collective, fans have a controlling say at their club. Even if the club was owned by one or two fans, it mightn’t necessarily represent a huge number of them. While some owners might profess their love for a club, if they’re new to the organization, can you still trust their have the fans in mind?
But it’s fair on external investors who can still have some influence at the club and turn a profit, without having majority control.
Whether it’s fair among competing clubs is a contentious issue, however. Critics of the rule will argue that nobody can leapfrog Bayern Munich, a club which has won the previous 10 Bundesliga campaigns, without heavy financial backing, such is the stranglehold the Bavarians have on that division.
Is the 50+1 rule in soccer employed anywhere outside of Germany?
The Swedish soccer league appears to be one of the only other leagues around that has a similar system.
In Sweden, they call it the 51% rule. They even go further than Germany because not only does this apply to soccer clubs, but this rule is for every sport across Sweden.
Other than this, there doesn’t seem to be leagues that have an obvious policy like this, even though there are clubs everywhere that have fan ownership regardless (AFC Wimbledon and Heart of Midlothian spring to mind).
Does RB Leipzig have 50+1?
Technically, yes, RB Leipzig abides by the 50+1 Rule in Germany and is therefore eligible to compete in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga.2.
The story is a complex but interesting one that you can read about from one of our previous articles on RB Leipzig.
When the Red Bull organization, who famously have a soccer portfolio of clubs globally, took control of SSV Markranstädt, who were a lowly outfit at the time, and eventually rebranded them, they did so by only having 17 club members, nearly all of whom worked for Red Bull.
For context, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have over 100,000 each.
Not only this, but their membership fee was simply unaffordable to most fans and could be vetoed by the existing club members easily.
German soccer fans feel the club is making a mockery of the 50+1 Rule and protests by opposing fans are common whenever RB Leipzig plays.
RB Leipzig aren’t the only example of this in Germany, however. Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg, and Bayer Leverkusen have contentious ownership issues but there is more historical context supporting their special dispensation that is typically more forgiven within Germany, unlike RB Leipzig.
Recap: The 50+1 rule in soccer
As you or I know, fans are the beating heart of soccer clubs everywhere. Without them, there would be no show on display, only amateur games.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether the 50+1 Rule should be adopted by other nations, but it would take fan engagement to a whole other level in countries where it needs it.