The big European clubs continue to focus on tapping into different avenues of getting more commercial success. The Club World Cup in the summer was one such event that benefited clubs financially, including Bayern Munich.
Apart from the traditional sponsorship deals, clubs are also exploring the opportunities to play league games outside Europe. There has been a lot of talk about a few La Liga games taking place in Miami, while the Italian clubs are looking to play Serie A games in Australia.
There has been strong opposition from home fans for such arrangements of league games. Meanwhile, the Spanish and Italian clubs believe the overseas games during the season will boost revenue and also help the league to improve its financial health. Serie A and La Liga have already arranged crucial domestic cup games outside Europe in the last few seasons.
The Bundesliga clubs are yet to explore the option of playing league games away from Germany. While talking to Welt (via iMiaSanMia) earlier this month, Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen insisted that the Bundesliga and Bayern are not keen on playing games away from Germany as they highly value the roots of the league.
"I don't think much of that. On the other hand, I do think it's a good idea for the 36 clubs in the first and second divisions to bring German football to the world. But we must never forget where our foundation lies. Therefore, I want our competitive matches to always be played in Germany – even if a Supercup might attract more attention abroad than friendly matches"Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen
While the financial outlay is attractive for clubs, the games away from Germany will not benefit players. They are already playing a significant number of games every season. The games keep on increasing. Adding more travel is not doing them any favours.
The Bundesliga fans play a crucial role in challenging the decisions of the DFL. If they come up with the possibility of playing Bundesliga games outside Germany, there will be protests across the division by fans to show their displeasure.
Bayern have specifically focused on improving finances in last two seasons
Dreesen and co have ensured Bayern have grown commercially over the last couple of seasons to compete with the riches of the Premier League. Die Roten have also been very cautious in terms of spending heavily on transfers. They had a positive net spending in the summer. Moreover, they trimmed the wage bill by parting ways with several high earners. They are expected to spend nothing in January as they plan for the next summer transfer window.
The Bavarian faithful doesn’t shy away from showing their displeasure at the club’s decisions, like they did during the Der Klassiker on Saturday. Bayern will continue to explore other avenues of income before even giving consideration to the idea of playing Bundesliga games outside Germany.