Dreesen: The Bundesliga's marketing lags behind the Premier League and La Liga

The boss of FC Bayern has once again criticized the revenues compared to England, but also Spain.

Bayern Munich's CEO, Jan-Christian Dreesen, has once again criticized the state of the Bundesliga's international marketing. "The stagnant, or even worse, declining results are particularly painful," Dreesen emphasized at the annual general meeting of the record German champions.

Bayern Munich earned €105.3 million from media rights in the past fiscal year, €30 million of which came from abroad. These figures are "lower than ten years ago," said Dreesen, adding: "This is unacceptable because this stagnation puts us at a real competitive disadvantage compared to our European rivals in England and Spain."

The Premier League earned over €2 billion from international marketing in 2024/25, La Liga brought in €835 million, and the Bundesliga only €174 million. "In international comparison, we are lagging dramatically behind. We've now accepted that the English have left us far behind. We won't catch up with them. But the fact that the Spanish earn more than four times as much abroad is unacceptable," complained Dreesen. This is something that "can no longer be accepted in the future."

Therefore, the German Football League (DFL) must "do more, all of us in the league must do more. We need more visibility. We shouldn't be complaining about more games, but should also see new competitions as an opportunity. We have to get involved, every single one of us. We have to conquer new markets," demanded the Bayern boss. Even FC Bayern "can't sit at Säbener Straße and wait for the world to come to us. It won't."

FC Bayern recorded a pre-tax profit of €42.5 million in the 2024/25 financial year, with a net profit of €27.1 million. Revenue increased by approximately €27 million to €978.3 million. Bayern Munich's total personnel costs amounted to €408.3 million.

Overall, the club is experiencing "turbulent times," Dreesen emphasized on Sunday: "The transfer market has been in turmoil this summer. We're competing with clubs that certainly don't have to work as hard for their money as we do, where money seems to grow on trees." Therefore, FC Bayern is forced to be more "creative" and "make a greater effort." "Only in this way can we keep FC Bayern competitive, and only in this way will we remain competitive in the long term."