UPM_News_2016

al tabloid style familiar from the parent

publication.

With just under 1,850,000 copies

sold,

Bild

is still the most widely cir-

culated daily newspaper in Germany.

Nevertheless, a title dedicated wholly

to football is new territory for Spring-

er. It will initially be published for a tri-

al period until the end of the year, with

60,000 copies being sold exclusively in

the metropolitan areas around Munich

and Stuttgart.

There has never been a daily sports

newspaper in Germany until now –

which is quite surprising if you look

at Germany’s football-loving Euro-

pean neighbours such as France, Italy

and Spain. Daily sports titles in these

countries are found not only in stand-

ard newspaper ranges, but they also

consistently rank among the best sell-

ers at every newspaper kiosk.

Until now, experts have suggest-

ed that Germany offers meagre pros-

pects for this type of title, arguing that

the market gap has already been filled

with free-to-air TV programmes and

weekly or biweekly football titles, such

as Kicker and Springer’s own foot-

ball-heavy

Sport-Bild

Football is bigger than ever

The decision to launch the new title

was a long-deliberated one. Accord-

ing to

Bild

Manager

Frank Mahlberg

plans to launch a daily sports paper are

documented in the company archives

as far back as twenty years ago.

Why, then, has Springer decided to

risk it now? “Football is bigger than

ever,” the company head argues. “You

can tell from the TV ratings, the size

of the crowds in the stadiums and the

sums of money that channels pay for

broadcasting rights.”

With its new paper, the publisher

hopes to reach out to all those “who

can’t get enough of football.” This tar-

get group is steadily growing in size.

“Since the World Cup in 2006, we’ve

seen the football hype increase year

after year,” says the Chief Editor of

Fußball-Bild,

Matthias Brügelmann

In fact, the 2006 World Cup – re-

ferred to by Germans as their “sum-

mer fairy-tale” – unleashed a whole

new level of enthusiasm, and not just

because their team came third on home

turf, but also because their hearts were

captivated by the young players and

their thrilling style of attack.

Print only, please

The new sports paper, printed mostly

on paper from UPM, has another spe-

cial differentiator: going against the

general trend for online journalism,

Fußball-Bild

is strictly print only.

“Naturally, football fans enjoy

watching football on their phones so

that they can experience what it’s like

in the stadiums, and of course everyone

at Springer is aware of the popularity

of live text. However, when it comes to

background, analysis and perspective,

nothing does it better than print. We be-

lieve that a clear style and plenty of ed-

itorial content from cover to cover give

our paper that added value,” says com-

pany spokesman

Friedrich Kabler

“With

Fußball-Bild

we’re showing

that it’s possible to be innovative in the

world of print,” he adds. Here they’ll

make no compromise: anyone hoping

to read the content of the new sports pa-

per online will be searching the internet

in vain. Fußball-Bild will focus exclu-

sively on traditional print journalism.

“Our trial period will run until the

German league’s winter break, and we

have made a conscious decision not

to put any content online during this

time,” explains Kabler.

Springer’s decision is applauded by

Maria Voigt

, Group Manager, Acti-

vation Print at PHD Germany. Voigt

praises the publisher for invigorating

the industry and boldly investing in

print innovation, despite what the cyn-

ics might argue.

Debut of a rising star

Fußball-Bild

is able to carefully con-

trol its costs and risks as it requires no

separate team of editors. The newcom-

er mainly draws on existing text from

the twelve

Bild

regional offices as well

as from the Berlin headquarters, which

it supplements with exclusive content

such as the front page, up-to-date com-

mentary and graphics.

The debuting sport star seems to

have plenty of positives going for it –

but whether or not the readers agree

will be revealed at the end of the year.

The results of the trial will be assessed

during the Christmas break. If the re-

sult is a thumbs-up, Nabil Bentaleb’s

war cry and Manuel Neuer’s heroic

saves will be seen throughout Germa-

ny on the front page of the newspaper

from 2017 onwards. And perhaps

Fuss-

ball-Bild

can comfort Schalke fans

with some golden tips for beating the

unbeatable Bayern!

UPM

NEWS 13