• How do the Bundesliga clubs' commitments to sustainability differ?
• What type of sustainable commitment is most important to fans?
• How do fans rate the clubs' commitments?

The topic of sustainability has been gaining in importance in society for years. And professional sport, especially soccer, is also increasingly addressing the issue. Since the introduction of the new sustainable licensing criteria at the latest, Bundesliga clubs have had to address the issue of sustainability. SLC Management has therefore also taken a closer look at the Bundesliga clubs' commitments and surveyed over 5,500 Bundesliga fans in the only representative Bundesliga panel with registered participants.

This analysis reflects a detailed overall opinion of the customers/fans of the Bundesliga clubs on the status quo of their clubs' sustainability commitments.

Three basic types of sustainable commitment can be distinguished among Bundesliga clubs:

1. Major investments in stadium and club infrastructure that have an impact on the club
2. Creating incentives to change fans' behavior during matchday attendance towards more sustainable behavior
3. Clubs use their role model function for their fans to motivate more sustainable behavior in their private lives

The role model function is most important to respondents (grade 2.33). Second place was taken by investments (grade 2.51) and the least important thing to Bundesliga fans was their own behavior on match day (grade 2.72). [grades from 1 = very important to 5 = not important]

The survey also examined how fans rate the sustainability activities of their clubs. For this purpose, the Bundesliga customers surveyed rated the sustainability activities of their respective clubs with grades [from 1 = very good to 5 = insufficient].

VfL Wolfsburg (grade 1.75), TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (grade1.80) and RB Leipzig (grade 1.83) make up the top 3 in this ranking. This was to be expected, as these clubs have attracted attention for their commitment through major investments.

These are followed by SC Freiburg (grade 1.84) and VfL Bochum (grade 1.98), smaller clubs that pursue different strategies in their commitment. While SC Freiburg benefits greatly from the city's sustainable image, the case of VfL Bochum in particular shows that even without major infrastructure projects, the area of sustainability can be effectively strengthened in the public eye with the involvement of its stakeholders.

The complete study can be obtained via the Webstore of SLC Management.

If you have any questions or require further information, please contact us at any time

Jens Jaschinski

Director Consultancy

E-mail: jaschinski@slc-ag.com

Phone: +49 (0) 911 - 54 81 830

Tags: #INSTANTINSIGHTS, Bundesliga, Clubs, Green Goal, Madeja, slcmanagement, Study, Sustainability, Sustainability strategy