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SpoBiS: DOSB President Calls For Reforms To Regain Public's Trust In Sports Bodies

The German Olympic Committee (DOSB) will take a look at its structure and performance after a public referendum derailed a potential bid by Hamburg for the 2024 Summer Olympics. "Our responsibility is to recreate a basic trust in sports bodies," said DOSB President Alfons Hörmann. "Negative stories have become a weekly occurrence. Without a basic trust in organizations it will be darn difficult enticing people to put a lot of money into sports." The failed Hamburg bid was disappointing, Hörmann recalled during his on-stage interview at the SpoBiS conference in Dusseldorf, Germany. But he said it is time to move on and examine the reasons for the public rejection. Outside factors such as the Paris terror attacks, IAAF doping scandal and German FA (DFB) bribery accusations, Hörmann said, have contributed to the outcome of the referendum after surveys suggested a majority was in favor of the bid going into the vote on Nov. 29. "It wasn't a vote against sports," he said. "People are still excited by big sporting events. It becomes problematic when big events are supposed to take place at people's doorsteps, have an impact on infrastructure and come with high costs." The DOSB will put its own structure under scrutiny to improve high performance sports in the country. It has enlisted Ernst & Young to compile the "Anstoß 2016" ("Kick Off 2016") report, which will take a look at the organization 10 years after its creation. In May '06, the German Sports Confederation (DSB) and the National Olympic Committee for Germany merged to form the DOSB. The report is expected to take four-to-five months and is set to be released in July. Without talking about specifics, Hörmann said the DOSB will make "more changes than people expect." A big reason for it, he said, is that some structures have not changed much since the '70s. "We agreed that reforms are needed," he said. "From restructuring the Olympic high performance centers to the collaboration between the various bodies, it's about less governing and more creating." The DOSB is also working with Germany's Ministry of the Interior (BMI) to advance the country's high performance structure.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES: The BMI is also financially contributing to the country's sporting success. The ministry invests between €130M-€150M ($145M-$167M) annually into the DOSB, Hörmann said. However, the biggest chunk of the organization's budget comes from the state-owned lotteries. They contribute about three times as much as the BMI, between €400M-€500M ($446M-$558M). An area where the DOSB sees room for improvement is marketing. The DOSB only generated €7.7M annually from marketing between '09-12, which represented about 20% of its total income. Hörmann said that while marketing revenue has grown since, it is still not at a level that the organization expects. "We the have the rights to the five rings," he said. "It's the most recognizable logo in the world. We have to take advantage of it." German Sports Marketing (DSM), a 100% subsidiary of the DOSB, is in charge of the body's marketing rights. Hörmann pointed to new media and OTT channel Sportdeutschland.tv as growth areas for marketing. Sportdeutschland.tv recorded more than 1.5 million clicks each for its news items about Angelique Kerber's Australian Open victory and the triumph of the men's handball team at the European Championships, Hörmann said. "It shows what opportunities new media offers," he said. "We aren't even close to professionally utilizing those opportunities."

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