If the Bundesliga were a horse race, the betting business with the season forecast would be ruinous for the bookmaker. Outright bets, place bets, Ita bets, two-way bets, three-way bets – events in the league are so predictable for each bet variant that at least nine out of ten customers should receive a profit. As far as the season bet goes, betting money on a tip can hardly be described as gambling anymore.
In the summer of 2021, the whole country knew that in the summer of 2022, FC Bayern would again finish first, a few horse lengths behind, while Borussia Dortmund would come in second as usual. The occupation of third and fourth place was also almost certain, the only question was how Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig would split the ranks.
According to the local league hierarchy, the betting slip is transformed into a home savings contract: it brings manageable but reliable returns. Even if the bet had been to predict the last two places, the risk would have been low: SpVgg Greuther Fürth and Arminia Bielefeld are exactly the two clubs from which relegation was to be expected.
Nevertheless, there is movement under the surface of the table. There are interesting changes among the supposed followers: clubs that have recently discovered their identity and independence or have long since made self-determination the basis of their livelihood. The latter applies to Union Berlin and SC Freiburg, which were always the designated outsiders in comparison to the size of clubs of the past such as Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart or 1. FC Köln. At the moment they are not only ahead of their higher-born competitors in terms of sport, but also economically. SC Freiburg is probably one of the economically healthiest football clubs in Europe, and not because it is incredibly stingy, but because it knows how to get involved in the usury market with expertise.
The path of Freiburg and Union serves as an inspiration for others
Players can now earn considerable money here, and adapting to professional standards is no longer seen as presumably overtaxing the location or, as in the early days as a club from the student town, as immoral. Expensive transfers are no longer taboo, as long as they are good transfers. So far, the management has always been able to meet the self-imposed progress criteria, the promotion to the European Cup class is not a whim of the times, but the result of planned action.
For the old clubs mentioned, the development of the sports club or the 1. FC Union, which is aspiring in its own way, poses a challenge. Here and there, however, the message seems to have been understood and turned into inspiration – we are expressly not talking about one certain old lady.
Frankfurt Eintracht has found a way for its ambition that suits the high-rise city and its charming arrogance; 1. FC Köln learned a tangible lesson in realism from coach Steffen Baumgart, who had traveled to the city, and has nevertheless remained what it always was: enthusiastic and a little crazy. In the third to last minute, VfB Stuttgart not only gave the league the greatest dramaturgical moment, but also demonstrated what a straight posture looks like in an emergency.
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