user: IN: Soccer: Bundesliga Gains on English Premier League
Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar celebrates after Ibrahim Afellay (right) scores the team's second goal during their win over Arsenal last week.

Take a snapshot of the Champions League last week and you'd be tempted to spot a shift in soccer's balance of power. Three of the four English clubs involved in the competition lost. And they weren't beaten by the game's elite, but by the relative rank-and-file. Chelsea, which won this competition last year, fell at Shaktar Donetsk. Manchester City, the defending Premier League champion, lost at Ajax, a team tied for fourth in the Dutch league. Arsenal raised the white flag at home against Germany's Schalke. Manchester United was the only English team to actually win and, even then, it had to come from two goals down at home against Portugal's Braga, which is only third in its decidedly B-list domestic circuit.

Contrast this with the Bundesliga clubs. In addition to Schalke's win in London, Bayern Munich won away at Lille and Borussia Dortmund bested none other than Real Madrid. Indeed, if you extend it out to the Europa League—soccer's secondary continental competition and home to another four German clubs—the Bundesliga's record is simply exceptional: played seven, won six, tied one, lost none.

Perhaps it was a blip, but there is little question the Bundesliga is on the rise. Last year, it leapfrogged Italy's Serie A to move into third place in UEFA's national league rankings, which look at the past five seasons. Spain's Liga and England's Premier League remain well ahead in terms of results, but what's interesting is how the German model differs from the English one. And how, in some ways, the domestic leagues reflect the nations they represent.

The Premier League operates in a loosely regulated laissez-faire environment. Clubs can be closely held, there are few restrictions on how they finance themselves or how much debt they accumulate. As far as fan representation goes, unless they buy their way in by acquiring shares—which isn't always easy—supporters can only really make their voices heard by acting as customers, i.e. voting with their wallets.

On the other hand, thanks to the so-called "50-plus-1 rule," the majority of a Bundesliga team's shares are held by the club itself and governed by the club members (essentially, fans who pay an annual fee) in the way a nonprofit or public trust might be. Outside investors hoping to profit either from dividends or from seeing the value of their shares appreciate are barred from having outright control. (There are two notable exceptions, VFL Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen. Their owners—Volkswagen and Bayer AG respectively—were grandfathered in because their association with the clubs dates back several decades.)

Both systems have evident benefits and drawbacks. The lack of red tape in the Premier League makes it very attractive to foreign investors—half of England's top-flight clubs are owned by foreigners—which, in turn, brings money flowing into the league. In Germany, on the other hand, it's less appealing for any investor—foreign or otherwise—to buy into a club, since he'll never have outright control.

At the same time, the relative lack of oversight has led some owners of English clubs to take the kind of risks they might not have taken if they were local stakeholders. This has ultimately led in some cases to administration, the British equivalent of Chapter 11, as helpless Portsmouth fans can attest.

German clubs aren't immune from financial mismanagement, of course. But the fact that they are run by club members means that when something does go wrong, you can normally remove those responsible. And the greater oversight in the German game—where there are stiff licensing controls on the amount of debt and losses a team can incur—makes for a generally stable environment.

Again, England and Germany can point to how their systems work. The Premier League is easily the most popular and commercially successful in the world. From 2013 to 2016, it will earn an average of $1.6 billion per season from domestic broadcast rights, dwarfing the Bundesliga's $634 million per season. And when you throw in overseas rights, the Premier League's hegemony is uncontested.

At the same time, average attendance is far higher in Germany. Last season, the average Bundesliga club drew approximately 45,000 fans per game to the Premier League's 34,600. Part of it is down to bigger and often better stadiums, some of which were refurbished or built with public money ahead of the 2006 World Cup. But a lot of it is down to ticket prices, which are substantially lower in Germany.

The bigger crowds in the Bundesliga, coupled with the fact that Germany is a wealthier country with a more vibrant economy, allow clubs to attract sizable sponsorships and commercial deals. Indeed, according to Deloitte's "Football Money League" report, in 2011 Bayern Munich's commercial revenue ($230 million) was greater than that of global juggernauts like Manchester United ($148.2 million) and Arsenal ($66.2 million) combined. And even a team like Schalke, huge in its own way but hardly a household name beyond the cognoscenti, earned more commercial revenue ($117.7 million) than global soccer brands like Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham or Manchester City.

What this suggests, above all, is that, for all the talk of globalization, clubs tend to make most of their money domestically and from local supporters. The wealthier they are—and the more money that's splashing around locally—the easier it is for a club to benefit.

As to which system is more desirable, the jury's out. Germany's is undoubtedly more fan-friendly, but how their way of operating could work in a nation with a different economic profile is anyone's guess. England's system is clearly more cosmopolitan and financially-driven, and, again, this probably reflects the local economy.

What we can say is that they both work. To each his own.

—Gabriele Marcotti is the world soccer columnist for the Times of London and a regular broadcaster for the BBC.
What is a short summary of the above article?

OUT: Recent strong play from German clubs suggests that country's heavily-regulated national league is catching up to the most powerful circuits in England and Spain.


IN: Kevin Hart Arrested for DUI
Kevin Hart Arrested for DUI

was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI after he nearly slammed into a gas tanker while speeding on a freeway ... TMZ has learned.

According to the California Highway Patrol, officers spotted the comedian driving in a black Mercedes on the 101 Freeway at around 4:30 AM PT. The CHP says he was "driving erratic," "going 90 MPH" and "almost collided with a gas tanker truck."

The CHP says when they pulled Hart over, he showed "objective signs of intoxication" and was "unable to perform field sobriety tests."

He was booked into a local jail for misdemeanor DUI just before 6:00 AM PT and posted a $5,000 bond.

On his way out of jail, Hart fully admitted to being drunk and even said he told the officers as much.
What is a short summary of the above article?

OUT:

assistant: Kevin Hart was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI after he nearly slammed into a gas tanker while speeding on a freeway ... TMZ has learned.…