VfB Stuttgart Wants To Be Authentic And Progressive In Expanding Foreign Presence

It might be a bit odd to describe a friendly between two Bundesliga sides in front of just 7,000 fans at the Q2 Stadium in Austin as a success. But for both VfB Stuttgart and Köln, it was the first trip to the United States in recent history, and with the Bundesliga wanting to expand its presence outside of Germany, this was a necessary first step.

Furthermore, the unusual cold weather, which probably cost the game a few thousand visitors, in Texas’ capital, and the lack of promotion within the city by Austin FC, might have hurt the attendance as well. Ultimately, Stuttgart’s 4-2 victory over Köln will remain just a footnote in the US Tour.

In fact, the training sessions at Austin FC’s brand-new training facility, the visit to the Texas University Longhorns training facility, and the NFL game in Houston between the Texans and the Washington Commanders will probably leave a bigger impression on the German delegation.

First and foremost, those visits will highlight the potential of sports in the United States. It will also highlight the gap between some Bundesliga sides and American sports teams in terms of merchandise, training facilities, and general infrastructure.

“There are many things we can take away from the trip, like how they put together their training facilities, but also the US sports like basketball,” Stuttgart head coach Michael Wimmer said after the game. Wimmer also downplayed the low attendance. “This is the first time we are in America; we are just trying to leave a mark, and when you come more often and present yourself well and then keep playing well, more people will come.”

“I want to see the whole picture,” director of marketing and sales at VfB Stuttgart Rouven Kasper said. “This is a topic for all Bundesliga clubs; we can’t complain about being behind other leagues but have to take care of the topic ourselves. Only if we are proactive and accept that we are a part of the whole, only if we show ourselves internationally will we have a chance to be competitive.”

Kasper knows how to grow the brand of a German club in foreign markets. Before joining Stuttgart, Kasper worked at Bayern Munich, where he was the President for Asia. From 2016 to 2019, Kasper helped establish Bayern in China, and now he wants to use that know-how at his new role in Stuttgart.

Kasper knows what he is talking about; his former boss, Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn, bemoaned on the Rekordmeister’s US trip last summer that not enough German teams were taking the trip to the United States. Only Bayern and Paderborn were in the States; this winter, Stuttgart and Köln joined Leverkusen, who opened the new stadium in St. Louis to have three Bundesliga teams in America.

Capturing that market is very important, not just with the 2026 FIFA World Cup in mind. Nationally, the top leagues have reached their limit when it comes to television money, and the Bundesliga is significantly behind the PremierPINC
League, LaLiga and even the Italien Serie A when it comes to generating TV money outside of Germany.

“[Nationally] we won’t be able to make any big jumps in that field,” Kasper said. “We have six, seven markets that we want to concentrate on, and the United States is what we consider a primary market.”

Kasper also believes that the Bundesliga can and should learn from the United States. It is a market that has understood sports as a business, whether it is soccer but also football, basketball, and other sports. “It is a market where we can still make big steps,” Kasper said.

“We have to produce relevancy,” Kasper pointed out. “And you can only do that if you are on location. We have to open our mindset.”

Located in one of Germany’s richest Länder (states), Baden-Württemberg, and with Mercedes as a shareholder, Kasper believes that the companies associated with the club can be an important mechanism of growth as those companies could use Bundesliga clubs to increase their relevancy in the USA. “Football is a door opener,” Kasper said.

But most importantly, the club wants to be authentic when it comes to growing abroad. “Very different from how I have done it at Bayern,” Kasper said. Bayern, of course, is already a well-recognized brand and has the financial means to be on eye level with many of the big sports in the US. Stuttgart is still in the early stages and wants to develop its own image.

So, what is next for Stuttgart, and how can a smaller club like Stuttgart close the gap to Bayern and other leagues? “We have to work harder than other leagues,” Kasper said.

Overall, Stuttgart believes that this is a strong first step. “The core is always Stuttgart,” Kasper said. “We must be progressive, maybe more aggressive; we must attack as a league but also the clubs. But the most important part is to remain authentic.”

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth