German soccer’s DFL league organizer, which administers the elite Bundesliga and secondary 2.Bundesliga, has reorganized its corporate structure, centralizing domestic and international media rights, commercial partnerships, and other business activities under a new wholly-owned subsidiary.
While the DFL parent company (DFL GmbH) will continue to manage the top-level organizational functions of the league and its constituent clubs, the new subsidiary will encompass all media rights and digital coverage rights negotiations, commercial partnership deals, and marketing agreements.
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The new unit will be led by Steffen Merkel, one of the DFL’s co-chief executives, while the other co-chief, Marc Lenz, will maintain a focus on DFL GmbH.
Furthermore, Peer Naubert, who leads the Bundesliga International subsidiary, and Biastian Zuber, head of the DFL Digital Sports business, will also contribute to the management of the new commercial unit.
Speaking on the organizational restructure, Lenz said: “The demands on a league organization have evolved considerably – whether financially, legally, in terms of sport, sports policy, or marketing. With this step, we are ensuring that the DFL Group is even more strongly positioned, both in terms of the associations and clubs sector as well as in marketing.
On the creation of the new unit specifically, Merkel stated: “The current structure of the DFL Group has been in place since 2012 – especially in recent years, the variety of interactions between the individual units have grown. The new subsidiary will bring together the commercial issues in order to set up centralized marketing from a single source for a successful future.
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By GlobalData“This is because national media rights sales, digital development, and international business can no longer be separated from one another and have long been intertwined in the DFL Group, including in operational terms. We are building on this and will continue to expand the good cooperation between DFL GmbH, the new subsidiary, and Sportcast in the future.”
In rearranging the fabric of the DFL’s corporate structure, the body has also bolstered its management board with the appointment of Philip Sagioglou, who returns to the body as executive vice president and managing board member, having departed in August 2023, when he was senior vice president of corporate communications.
Lenz and Merkel added of his appointment: “Philip Sagioglou knows the DFL Group inside out, has experience in leadership roles in the company as well as in consulting and, in combination with his personality, expertise and passion for football, has the ideal profile to bundle together the overall communication and corporate development.”
Despite all the changes, the Sportcast subsidiary will remain the DFL Group’s central production unit, continuing as a wholly owned subsidiary that manages the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga feeds.
Meanwhile, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have hired Rouven Kasper to return to the club as director of marketing and sales.
The 43-year-old, previously a member of the board at VfB Stuttgart, will assume the position on January 1, 2026.
Kasper began his career at global marketing agency Sportfive, where he held various positions. In 2016, he moved to FC Bayern, where he was responsible for Asia-Pacific activities as president of Asia until 2021.
Herbert Hainer, president and chairman of the supervisory board of FC Bayern, said: "We are looking forward to a significant addition with international experience in a strategically relevant field. The board is convinced that Rouven Kasper is the right choice, both professionally and personally, to achieve FC Bayern's ambitious goals in marketing and sales with him as a member of the board of directors, especially since he already knows our club very well."
Last year, long-time chief marketing officer Andreas Jung left the club after 27 years in the role.
