FC Bayern face Real Madrid for a place in the Euroleague playoffs on Friday. That however is just one small step on what appears to be a serious acceleration in their basketball journey. Emmet Ryan on how a new and sustainable power might be emerging.
It’s going to be tasty. There’s no doubt about that. Real Madrid have endured or enjoyed, depending on your approach to life, an interesting season. FC Bayern by contrast have been a much steadier ship despite a comparable record, both at home and in Euroleague. It points to a promising future for the giant Europe is waiting to break out.
New home, big moves
FC Bayern’s season and future somewhat circle around this season’s move into the SAP Garden. The new arena, that seats 11,500, is almost double the previous capacity of the 6,500 BMW Park. Including the play-in win over Crvena Zvezda, Bayern has sold out 18 out of 18 fixtures there. That amounts to around €12 million in cumulative gameday revenue this season just from Euroleague, not including revenue generated at BMW Park where the club still plays Basketball Bundesliga.
It’s not the stadium owner, that would be one of Red Bull’s subsidiaries, so there is rent to pay. Still, with a 15 year lease it’s reasonable to assume favourable terms. More importantly, the far more modern nature of the SAP Garden has been a jolt to the club’s matchday revenue. The napkin math alone would conservatively put annual revenue purely from people coming through the turnstiles at more than double last season.
That’s despite the club still playing its domestic games in the smaller BMW Park. It gets better. Having access to a larger arena also enables the club to present a grander product to sponsors, improving commercial opportunities substantially
Commercial development has been a strong suit of German sport for a long time, oddly due to its greater focus on free to air broadcasts of football lasting longer than most other European nations. That made commercial development a priority earlier in German sport and has led to said skills being prioritised more.
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I thought this was a basketball piece
Yes, quite, it is. The increased potential revenue streams however are vital for the FC Bayern project. Ever since the club started its push towards building up the basketball department, the goal has been to be both successful on a European level but also self-sustaining without draining the football club’s coffers.
It has become the force in German basketball, even without dominating the title scene there. Last year’s Bundesliga crown came after a five year gap. Still, the club has built up a strong support and clearly developed into a better quality side at the Euroleague level over the years.
There has been no rush here. Everything has been gradual and built around putting together something sustainable. This year’s side was all about making the SAP Garden a fortress. It worked as a 13-4 home record, compared to 6-11 away, was enough to give them a place in the play-ins.
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German core, room to grow
Andreas Obst, Niels Giffey, Elias Harris, and Johannes Voigtmann play, it is safe to say, a broad range of roles for FC Bayern. They however form part of a crucial domestic core for FC Bayern that has clear potential to get stronger.
Germany’s push forward in youth development led to the nation’s first ever World Cup title two years ago and the growth of basketball in the country of 84 million people is visible. Throw in its biggest sports brand and things look more promising. Everything about FC Bayern’s moves in basketball have been around establishing itself as a team that can lock down the best German talent and be in position to spend on top players as imports.
Carsen Edwards has been its star this year. In prior Euroleague campaigns, the first assumption would be where he’d be off to next. The club is in a financial position now where that’s not just assumed. Still, that doesn’t really get the point of Friday.
Exceeding expectations?
Reaching the Euroleague play-ins this season, with a home game, is a good result from the season. Against a Real Madrid squad, which has objectively outperformed them this season, they go in as underdogs. There’s no question which club feels like it is moving more positively right now.
Granted. Real Madrid has decades more history and success at the top level of basketball than FC Bayern. They’re expected to be the better club, hence why the definitions of success and failure are different. Still, a win there and the Germans would reach the playoffs for the first time in three years. They’d go into a series with Olympiacos as enormous underdogs but could also count on a 19th sellout of SAP Garden in Game 3 (and a 20th if they force Game 4).
No matter what happens on Friday, the ship looks quite steady and ready to develop. Back to back 15th place finishes in Euroleague the past two campaigns didn’t phase FC Bayern. It was all about doing the boring work to build sustained success. The signs are very promising.
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