German Bundesliga club St. Pauli has set out plans for its fans and members to own Millerntor-Stadion through the launch of a cooperative dubbed the first of its kind in world football.
St. Pauli currently owns the stadium, but the Hamburg-based club is hoping that the cooperative scheme will raise as much as €30m (£25.2m/$32.6m), allowing for the purchase of a majority stake in the Millerntor.
Football Cooperative Sankt Pauli 2024 (FCSP) will be open to other parties outside of fans and members, with the subscription period for shares set to open on November 10. Each share costs €850 – €750 for the share itself, plus €32 in management fees and €68 for reserves for the co-op.
St. Pauli president, Oke Göttlich, said: “The cooperative is the perfect model for FC St. Pauli. It gives members and fans a stake under application of a general democratic rule – everyone has one vote irrespective of the number of shares purchased.
“It’s the most important project for FC St. Pauli since the Millerntor-Stadion new build. We aim to show that not only is a different kind of football possible but also a different kind of financing.”
In February 2020, St. Pauli secured its long-term future at the Millerntor through a new usage agreement that will potentially mean it can celebrate its 200-year anniversary at the stadium.
The club, which has a wide following outside of Germany due to its political leanings and social culture, has played at the 29,500-capacity Millerntor since 1963. A new long-term contract was agreed between stadium operator Millerntorstadion Betriebs (MSB) and Hamburg authorities.
Wilken Engelbracht, St. Pauli commercial director and member of the cooperative supervisory board, said: “The injection of new capital via a cooperative is much more relatable to members than a spin-off of the professional football section, an involvement of investors or the sale of merchandise rights. The only question really is why no one thought of it before.”
The subscription phase for FCSP is set to run through January and, since St. Pauli first detailed plans for the venture, a similar project has been put forward by 2. Bundesliga club Schalke 04. Meanwhile, fellow Bundesliga club Union Berlin last month upgraded its redevelopment plans for the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, along with detailing a new capital increase scheme that could raise up to €60m for the project.
The FCSP managing board said: “Although the Schalke project looks a bit different, we think it’s a great step because we’re convinced by the cooperative model and are happy to see additional associates in the football world.”
