The board of the DFL, the German football league, has unveiled a new media-rights income distribution model across the top two divisions in the country, the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga.
The model, which was unanimously agreed by the board, will apply for the four seasons from 2017-18 to 2020-21.
The new structure will have four pillars, each contributing a percentage of the total income based on a number of factors, including historic results and youth development, but not including criteria such as average attendances and audience figures as “extensive investigations” showed that “these factors were difficult to measure and compare,” the DFL said. Under the previous model, Bundesliga clubs were awarded 80 per cent of the income, with 2.Bundesliga clubs receiving a 20-per-cent share.
Seventy per cent of income from national rights deals will be distributed according to an existing formula – a five-year ranking of the club’s performance, with the most recent season carrying the most weight in a 5:4:3:2:1 ratio. The DFL said that in practice the highest ranking Bundesliga club would receive 5.8 per cent of the income, with the lowest ranking club in the top tier receiving 2.9 per cent.
Of the remaining 30 per cent of national rights income, 23 per cent will be attributed according to another five-year ranking, including all 36 clubs, with the top six clubs receiving the same amount, while a 20-year performance ranking will contribute five per cent. The remaining two per cent will be based on the number of minutes in which under-23 players trained by the clubs are on the field in the most recent season.
Of the international rights income, 25 per cent will be distributed evenly across the 18 top-tier clubs, while a further 50 per cent will be paid out on the basis of a five-year ranking of international performance.
The distribution of the other 25 per cent will be based on the number of matches in European competitions. Starting with the 2017-18 season, 2.Bundesliga clubs will receive an initial annual share of €5m ($5.3m).
DFL president Reinhard Rauball said: “Thanks to the record amount of income from the national media rights, for which new tenders had been received in the summer, all clubs can expect to receive a considerable increase in income."