Marc Lenz and Steffen Merkel will remain co-chief executives (CEOs) of the DFL, the governing body for German soccer’s top two tiers, after being awarded contract extensions through 2029.
The DFL’s supervisory board announced its unanimous decision to extend the pair’s tenure yesterday, having first appointed them to the joint position in June 2023.
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Supervisory board chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke said the new contracts reflected the exceptional leadership the pair had shown during challenging times for the DFL, highlighting the “strong national media rights deal” that was struck in December.
He said: “Both work excellently with the committees and the clubs. With their expertise, many years of experience in football, and strong identification with the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, and their unifying approach, they are ideally suited to lead the DFL into a successful future and continue to contribute significantly to the overall success of German professional football.”
Lenz and Merkel replaced the governing body’s joint chairs, Axel Hellmann and Oliver Leki, who both stepped down in 2023 amid a fallout due to the DFL’s failure to convince the 36 clubs across the top two German soccer divisions to proceed with talks around private equity investment.
The DFL’s plan for private investment into a media rights sales subsidiary would have seen €2 billion ($2.15 billion) paid in exchange for a 12.5% stake in the DFL MediaCo vehicle. The entity would have managed and sold the league’s broadcast rights for 20 years, and taken 12.5% of the profits from those sales.
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By GlobalDataHowever, fewer than the required two-thirds of the 36 top-tier Bundesliga and second-tier 2.Bundesliga clubs voted for discussions to continue.
Before becoming CEOs, Merkel was serving as vice president of German-language media rights, having first joined DFL in 2014, while Lenz was first hired by the body in 2019 and was working as executive vice president of corporate strategy and international affairs.
Addressing the new contract, Lenz said: “Together with the clubs, the league committees and our team at the DFL, we will continue to work hard to ensure that the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 remain top leagues: attractive in sporting terms, economically competitive, with financially stable clubs and deep roots in society.
“The factors influencing global football are constantly increasing. In this dynamic environment, it is important to continue to pursue a positive path that fits our tradition and at the same time enables us to make the necessary progress.”
Merkel added: “Based on the national media rights agreement, we are looking positively to the future. From this position of strength, we must work with the clubs to set the course for the future in terms of structure and content: in sport, in sports policy, and especially in marketing, with a view to our business model, the changing media markets, and our global growth ambitions.”
In December, the DFL confirmed pay-TV network Sky and sports streaming company DAZN would serve as the main broadcast partners for the Bundesliga in Germany between the 2025-26 to 2028-29 seasons, concluding a drawn-out process, which saw the restart of the auction following a legal dispute with DAZN.
Under that deal, Sky will air the majority of live games, including all Bundesliga matches on Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and the relegation playoff games, as well as all 2. Bundesliga games.
DAZN, meanwhile, gained the rights to the ‘Konferenz’ show that provides coverage of matches (161 in total) played at the same time in the 3.30pm (CET) slot on Saturday afternoons. That package also includes Bundesliga games played on Sundays.
Commercial broadcaster Sat.1 acquired the free-to-air package that includes the live broadcast of select games, while other FTA networks ARD, ZDF, and Sport1 secured highlights rights packages.
