"Scouting, Speed, Ambition": How Borussia Dortmund Plan To Topple Europe's Financial Giants

Borussia Dortmund may be far from reliving the glory of 2011-2012, when they last won the Bundesliga title, but the club's CEO Carsten Cramer has a well-defined roadmap for the future. Balancing a candid admission of the financial gulf in European football with a fierce commitment to the club's "50+1" rule is a challenge, and Cramer had no hesitation in acknowledging it. In a recent assessment during NDTV's visit to Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund's home stadium, Cramer made it clear that the BVB family has no intention of compromising its soul to keep pace.

Cramer was under no illusions about the sheer spending power of England's top flight and the heavyweights of Spain and France. "You described our challenge," Cramer told NDTV when asked how a club like Borussia Dortmund competes with Bayern Munich and other top European clubs with a smaller budget.

"As long as we are top ten in Europe, as long as we are playing a game like this, with a chance to come closer to Bayern Munich, I'm not complaining about the differences we do have. That's competition in the market. Of course, the Premier League clubs, PSG, the Spanish ones, are more powerful than us."

He pointed to the club's growth as a source of pride, highlighting that Dortmund has successfully moved ahead of Italian giants such as Inter, AC Milan, and Juventus in terms of financial figures. Despite this progress, the gap to the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool remains vast. For Cramer, this is not a reason to complain but a call to innovate and secure the most exciting talents before others. "We have to be creative. We have to be faster. We have to push our scouting... to hire talented players earlier than others."

50+1: A Non-Negotiable USP

At the heart of Dortmund's philosophy remains the 50+1 rule, a regulation ensuring that club members retain majority voting rights, preventing a total takeover by commercial investors. While some see this as the reason Bundesliga clubs struggle to match Europe's powerhouses in acquiring top talent, Cramer views it as a "cultural USP" for German football.

"We will never give this up," Cramer asserted. He acknowledged that this stance guarantees a "financial disadvantage" compared to clubs owned by governments or billionaires, but Dortmund plans to fight the idea rather than surrender. "Accept it and fight against this or give it up. And giving up is never an opportunity for Dortmund."

Dortmund Not Keen On Copying Leverkusen Model

The scars of the 2022-23 season, when Dortmund lost the Bundesliga title on the final day against Mainz, still linger. Cramer admitted the loss remains "in our clothes and in our bones," yet he praised the squad's resilience in qualifying for the Champions League and competing at the highest level immediately after such a setback.

When asked whether the club should look to Bayer Leverkusen's recent success as a blueprint, Cramer was firm: Dortmund will not be a carbon copy of anyone else.

"I think we don't need to take learnings from others in Germany," he stated. "We have to focus on ourselves."

For the management, the goal is not to replicate a rival's model but to refine their own scouting-heavy, high-intensity approach to remain "the best versions of themselves."

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Borussia Dortmund Football