A sold-out stadium, fully occupied business boxes, gushing TV income: regardless of the results and tables, there are many reasons why Eintracht Frankfurt believed that it was on the upswing before the corona pandemic began.

The waiting list for a stadium season ticket was long, and the rush for tickets for matches in the Europa League was huge.

But after 18 months of pandemic, Eintracht Frankfurt is faced with a dilemma that could shake the foundations of the club.

Daniel Schleidt

Deputy coordinator of the business editorial department in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Because there is a serious risk that the brand image, which the former scandal club has painstakingly built up over the years and which literally shows a harmony between the club and its supporters, could be significantly damaged by the corona crisis. Frankfurter Eintracht has developed a special relationship with its supporters in the recent past, which is reflected not only in the number of spectators but also in the number of members: Eintracht now has around 90,000, and the growth in recent years has been breathtaking. In many games, especially in the European Cup, the team was carried by its powerful-voiced audience. In return, the club paid back this loyal support by giving the fan curve more room to develop than other clubs do,for example during protests against the Monday games, which have since been abolished.

But the pandemic is putting this unity between the active fan scene, the rest of the audience and the club to the test.

The Corona requirements currently stipulate that the Waldstadion may only be half full.

Instead of a huge rush for the lower number of tickets, however, the Eintracht experienced last week at the first league home game against FC Augsburg: They stayed on 3,000 of the 25,000 tickets, because above all the so-called "Ultras" and numerous other fan clubs played the game stay closed - and want to do so until all requirements have been removed.

Without fans, Eintracht is missing two things

Unity is missing two things without its loyal, vocal audience. First: a lot of money. If the season were played through with 25,000 spectators, it would lose around 25 to 30 million euros. The second, emotional component is no less important: If the active fan scene stays away from the games, the atmosphere in the stadium is significantly worse because there is no organized support. But it is precisely this special arena atmosphere, which in Frankfurt is one of the best in Germany, is a reason for many spectators to buy tickets in addition to the game itself. There is a threat of a self-reinforcing effect, according to which a few viewers could lead to even less in the long term.

One reason for the absence of the active fan scene is that the fan groups are currently unable to live out the community that they associate with a visit to the stadium.

This includes rituals, celebrating together, the factual and proverbial standing together in the curve in which the voice of the individual rises in a loud choir.

So as long as not everyone is allowed to go back to the stadium - and that includes the guest fans - nobody should return.

In addition to this “all or none” effect, there is also the question of what will remain of the corona-related measures.

The critical fan scene fears that restrictions could become permanent.

Many Eintracht supporters reject the personalization of the entry tickets, which results from the vaccination or recovery certificate.

Football is moving further and further away from its base when tickets are becoming more and more expensive, sponsors are becoming more important and restrictions are becoming more and more severe. As an exceptional situation, the pandemic must by no means ensure that emergency measures introduced during this period, such as personalized tickets, which make it impossible to attend an anonymous game, are permanently introduced. Eintracht is well advised to continue to seek solidarity with their audience and also to insist that the stadium visit after the pandemic can be as it was before. Otherwise, many spectators could stay away from the arena permanently. And that would cause great damage to the company and the Eintracht brand.