“I will remain a staunch fan in the future as well”

Wolfsburg. On the penultimate matchday of the group stage, football club VfL Wolfsburg will play against Slavia Prague on Friday (21:00, AOK Stadium). Reaching the quarterfinals is already certain, a victory would lead to first place in the group. For Tim Schumacher it is the last home game as managing director responsible for women’s football, on February 1 he will hand over this business area to Marcel Schäfer. In the AZ/WAZ interview, Schumacher (48), who continues to be responsible for human resources, law and infrastructure, among other things, talks about the prospects for VfL and women’s football.

How much nostalgia do you give up on women’s football?

I put a lot of heart and soul into it and of course I will continue to do so in the future, because not only will I remain CEO, but I am also a dedicated fan and will absolutely continue to support women. But it makes sense that in the future sports topics will be the responsibility of Marcel Schäfer. Men’s soccer, women’s soccer, both are competitive soccer, you have to combine them. But of course I will continue to do my part to ensure that women continue to be successful.

“The season is sensational”

They are particularly successful this season. Is this the best team VfL has ever had?

Such comparisons are tough, but it’s probably one of the best. The season so far has been sensational. Of course there were also some shaky games like the narrow victory in Bremen, but in the end the team dominated that too. The Champions League games and even the best league games like the 2-1 draw against Bayern have shown that the players have a lot of will. The foundations for a very successful season have been laid, but only in the spring will we see how the multiple burdens affect us. We are not only talking about the three competitions we participate in, we are also talking about international matches.

Interest in women’s football is growing and there are more fans in stadiums than ever before. Is it just the boom after emerging markets in the summer?

EM was a push, of course, and the speed with which the positive effects manifested was perhaps surprising. But the clubs and above all we in Wolfsburg have done the preliminary work and laid the foundations, just think of the match against Barcelona with over 22,000 spectators at the Volkswagen Arena. It was a sensational platform with a great atmosphere. Fortunately, EM has been so successful that we can continue to build on it.

“We saw how successful the move to the arena was”

In the Champions League will there be attractive opponents in the quarter-finals and ideally also in the semi-finals – with home games in the VW Arena?

This is what I expect. Obviously he has to adapt in terms of time and logistics, the matches have not yet been scheduled. But basically we saw in the matches against Bayern and Frankfurt what a success the move to the arena was.

Matches in bigger stadiums drive up the average number of spectators…

…that’s why I also look at the average of games at AOK Stadium. We are now almost 3000, i.e. 1000 more spectators than in the previous season at Corona. With games in the VW Arena, we also average almost 8,000 fans. The highlight matches in the large stadium therefore play an important role. Whole school classes or teams of girls come, many even come from Hamburg, Göttingen or Berlin. I am convinced that in the long run we will gain fans.

The new TV contract brings the championship clubs to 388,000 euros per season. It almost sounds ridiculous compared to men’s soccer, but it’s a multiple in this revenue area. Will this help VfL remain internationally competitive?

It is a positive step, but only a first step. And the difference to other top-level leagues is still big, but that also applies to men’s football. When you see English clubs, for example, receiving hundreds of millions from TV deals, it’s easier for them to simply invest millions in women’s football. Just as important to us as TV revenue is visibility. In the new season there are league matches on Magenta and DAZN, plus a number of free TV matches and the Monday match as a unique selling point. Ideally, this guarantees an automatism: more attention, more viewers, more sponsors, better marketing opportunities.

And will this ultimately lead to female soccer players earning as much as female soccer players?

This is a speech that goes in the wrong direction because you always have to look at the revenue side of the club. We in Wolfsburg have already done a lot in terms of general conditions, such as infrastructure. There we are doing our homework, the other clubs and the league as a whole should first see if the structure fits and if it is right that the players should still have a main job. If the league improves and you can work at a high level anywhere, then the competition will become more attractive and salaries will also increase.

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How would you like women’s football to be in ten years time?

I wish the positive development to continue. Which gets the sustained response it deserves. That the matches take place regularly in large and full stadiums and that there are television contracts that are decidedly comparable to those of men. This would mean that the framework conditions ensure that women’s football as a professional sport pays off for all involved. All of this may not be realistic in the short term. But these are goals that are definitely attainable and should be worked on.

Can you imagine a woman as coach of the men’s national team or head coach of VfL?

Naturally. The best and most competent should do the most important jobs. It’s not a gender issue.