FRANKFURT: Six Bundesliga clubs have teamed up in an attempt to change the way in which broadcasting revenue is distributed in the top two German divisions.

The ‘Team Marktwert’ group consists of Hamburg (12th in the table), Hertha Berlin (third), Werder Bremen (14th), Eintracht Frankfurt (17th), 1FC Köln (ninth) and Stuttgart (11th). They are reacting, in part, to increasing concerns about the massive financial advantages established by English Premier League clubs.

Currently the egalitarian system sees 65pc distributed equally between the 18 clubs, with the remaining share split according to a team’s sporting performance over the past five seasons.

Team Marktwert is calling for a third pillar of revenue sharing to be introduced which would factor in a team’s commercial appeal and market value according to criteria such as fan base, popularity, television ratings, membership levels and social media presence.

Hamburg’s chief marketing officer Joachim Hilke told German newspaper Bild: “Those that add value to a product because they have a lot more fans and followers, should be taken into account in the distribution of income. I find that anything else would be simply unfair.”

Earlier this month the German league (DFL) launched the sales process for the next cycle of domestic rights for the two Bundesliga divisions and the Supercup from 2017-18 to 2020-21.

#########