The new CEO of Borussia Dortmund, Carsten Cramer, gave an interview to NZZ analyzing modern football and suggesting that big European rivals like Real Madrid are not the club’s true competition, at least from an economic stand point.
In the interview, Cramer gave an assertive stance centered on the future trajectory of football, addressing the reformed Champions League format and the now-distant Super League concept. “Football has a lot to do with culture and rituals. With tradition. With history. Football is more of a decelerating element. However, we need to grow. Ultimately our competitor is not Real Madrid, but Netflix. Or another leisure activity. We have to ensure that the new generation remains interested in football,” he commented.
In the recent forum, Gerard Pique picked up off of Carsten Cramer’s words and gave his own opinion: “It’s obvious, I think someone from Dortmund said it: our rival is not Real Madrid, our rival is Netflix. In the end it is entertainment. Football has to go more towards entertainment. People have hours that they want to entertain themselves. It competes against Netflix and also against social networks. People spend hours and hours consuming these types of platforms. It is evident that football is competing for all of this.”
Florentino Perez was one of the first to mention this issue when he introduced the concept of the Super League. Many questioned the Madrid president but more and more executives at the highest level of club football are seeing the data and coming to a similar conclusion. Whether traditional fans agree with it or not, football may be forced to change and adapt in the coming 5-10 years.