Borussia Dortmund have built a formidable presence across Asia, with the Bundesliga giants regularly travelling to markets such as Japan for pre-season tours and commercial activities. India, despite its enormous population and growing interest in football, remains an untapped opportunity, not just for Dortmund but the entire Bundesliga. The club’s CEO Carsten Cramer, however, believes that could change, provided Dortmund finds the right moment and, more importantly, the right strategy to enter the Indian market.
“When is the right moment to make the first step into India?
Cramer said, in response to the question. “But from a club perspective of a club like Dortmund, whenever we make a first step, we know that a second and third have to follow.”
For Cramer, simply bringing Dortmund’s star-studded first team to India for a one-off exhibition or pre-season match would not be enough. The club wants to ensure that any entry into the Indian market is sustainable and capable of creating long-term relevance. But the club is wary of creating expectations that it may struggle to fulfil afterwards. “But what are we generating then as an expectation from the Indian market in the moment we rush in with the first team? And I have no clue right now. The Dortmund CEO believes the club would be willing to move quickly if it could find a way of developing a long-term strategy with Indian stakeholders. “It’s a really exciting market. “Such a big country, but just not really committed to the Bundesliga.
Dortmund, according to Cramer, could even make a first-team visit happen without waiting for an official invitation. “Even if we wouldn’t receive an invitation, I’m very sure we would make it happen that the first team could be invited by some club,” Cramer said. “But India, if you would be able to help us to develop a long-term sustainable strategy to benefit from the step into your country, then I would do it by immediate impact,” Cramer said. “We don’t get much money out of your market from the TV, which is still a disaster to be honest,” he said. “So it’s a question who has to make the first, you from the media perspective or we from a club perspective,” Cramer said. “That is something we discuss in Dortmund, we discuss in Bundesliga as well.”
