Episode 79: On German Soccer (With a Correction in the Notes)

Once more calling in from Germany, Mr. Miller relays to Dr. Bourgeois the excitement as well as the political and economic tension of a soccer game with Borussia Dortmund creates.

Correction: In the episode, I characterized the protest as being about a breaking from the 50+1 policy that German clubs are suppose to have and the unwanted presence of corporations at the club level. This is a backdrop to but not the reason for this particular protest. The German Football League (DFL) voted to sell some of their broadcasting rights for over $1b to corportions as a means of raising money and expanding the brand. But the fans worried about the untold influence the corporations would have over German soccer, including higher prices across the board, and pushed to have the deal scuttled. In late February 2024, the DFL backed down from the deal and now, presumably, are going back to the drawing board. Sorry for the confusion.

If all this soccer talk has you ready to read about educational matters, then you are in luck. Check out The Center Cannot Hold: A Critical Look at Contemporary Education, written by yours truly, for a detailed list of issues facing American education and our humble solutions to said problems.