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Monday · 02/08/2016 · 17:00 · Christian Ciemalla, Eva Wortmann - handball-world.com

Gotterdammerung with NBA type World League: Interview with Premier Handball League President Wolfgang Gütschow

News about a new Super League in handball caused an uproar in the sport during the Euro in Poland: Premiere League Handball intends to take over from EHF Champions League as club handballs premium product. PHL will be run as a private company in a concept likened to North American NBA, aiming to include the best of European club handball teams. One of the founders is players agent and business advisor Wolfgang Gütschow, who leads Zurich bassed Premier League Handball AG as its CEO and president of the administrative board. He speaks about the concepts and the aims of the PHL: Premier Handball League wants to revolutionise club handball with NBA type concept.

Even though the start is not planned until the 2018/19 season, Premier League Handball immediately caused a stir after the concept was published in German business paper Handelsblatt...

Wolfgang Gütschow:
The uproar was a bit surprising to us too. The allocation of starting places was immediately subject of a heated debate, even though there had not even been an official invitation of tenders yet. The interest is huge. Danish entrepreneur Jesper Nielsen has just notified me, that he will set up a new team named AG Amazing Copenhagen especially for PHL. And there are also motions in Hamburg to initiate a team there.

The plans appear to be fairly concrete already, a League with only twelve top teams, preferably from metropole cities or regions, played in the Round Robin Mode and a Play Off at the end of the season.

Wolfgang Gütschow:
With regard to the few actual top teams twelve is a realistic number. If there are more teams fulfilling the preconditions, we will not block an extension. Initially we need to ensure the PHL League schedule fits the international calendar. Euro, World Championships, Olympics and most importantly the National Leagues cannot be damaged through this concept. Of course the club still intend to play in their home leagues.

What will differentiate PHL from EHF Champions League?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
PHL will take handball from the provinces into the top arenas of the metropole regions. Each match will be an event, coming close to the esprit of the Final4 in Cologne. We also intend to lessen the strain of the match schedules and play our season from February to December, with a break and players transfers in the summer. It does not make sense sportingly and marketingwise to have the teams fight for national and international titles simultaneously in May.

Such huge events cannot be hosted by many clubs though....

Wolfgang Gütschow:
With respect - you cannot run, let alone market a premium product with matches taking place in clubs carrying the names of provincial towns. Champions League is certainly well organised, sympathetic and familiar but continues to be deficient for most of the clubs. Flensburg played in front of 300 spectators in Istanbul and some clubs even give tickets away for free to their matches. Compared to premium products of other sports Champions League is an economical desaster.

It has been rumoured that handball rules will be different in PHL

Wolfgang Gütschow:
We will certainly not reinvent handball. But since PHL will not be governed by an international body, there are many creative options. The current set of regulations is so complicated, that even the athletes and refs do not really oversee it. There are constantly protests or discussions of violations or interpretations of the regulations, matches are repeated and referees accused of manipulating international matches. This is a collection of worst case scenarios for any sport. First and foremost we need to use a reform of the regulations to offer the referees less room for interpretation and also to make the rules more transparent for spectators and thus more accessible for a new clientele.

How will that be done technically?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
One example would be the shot clock, as it cannot be right that referees judge the time span of an attack according to the temperature in their short pockets. We need to minimise the room for errors. The time penalty rule also needs adressing. Analogue processes such as the green card need to be waved. For time out all we need is buzzers at the officials table, certainly not the whistle of an official who is out of his depth. We need to rule out scenarios like phantom goals, Last Second Scores and changing errors through the introduction of technology, as is standard practice in other sports. And a gripping handball match ultimately needs a winner, meaning that the golden goal will come.

As a break away league you will not be able to use EHF and IHF referees ...

Wolfgang Gütschow:
We will see about that. PHL will be working with professional referees and not have a pointless age limit, ruling out referees who are at the top of their game. Recruiting 40 referees will surely be one of our minor tasks.

Back to Germany as one large handball nation, how many Bundesliga teams do you plan to have on board?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
We are not going to intiate a discussion on the number of German teams. PHL is a cosmopolitan company. Wether a team is Danish, German, French or from the Emirates is irrelevant. Foxes, Bears, Falcons or Zebras are in focus.

That means THW Kiel and Füchse Berlin are set already?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
We have not set anyone yet, as long as the decision process in the club has not been closed. THW needs to decide wether they intend to continue to position their valuable brand in the conservative surroundings of EHF or in the modern setup of an NBA style World League. For a longstanding and traditional club such as THW it is a decision that requires utmost diligence.

So in theory the decision is easier for a club like Füchse Berlin in a capital city?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
Generally yes, even though the question really is, wether it is possible to run a top team in a metropole city that plays its matches against provincial teams. In our view the answer is no, as was evident in Hamburg. The chances to access investors for a team in a metropole city, playing in a world league exclusively featuring top matches against other metropoles are on a whole new level. The financial attraction of PHL for each club are in the individual marketing options.

So you are saying HSV could have been saved if PHL had already been in existence..

Wolfgang Gütschow:
Without a shadow of a doubt. Imagine "Hamburg Captains" participating in a world league. Cosmopolitan Hamburg, gate to the entire world, an open and tolerant city - it practically craves an international sports project, that stands for reputable quality. There is a rule applying to Hamburg: Anyone not offering premium quality will fail. Hamburg would have been successful with a combination of Hanseatic down to earth attitude and a longing to see the world. Captains and tradesmen are not interested in travelling the provinces, they long for Hong Kong and Shanghai. I am convinced Andreas Rudolph would not have lost interest had he had fellow entrepreneurs on a similar level.

What if Bayern Munich calls?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
We would be delighted. The sporting, logistical and economical preconditions are the deciding factors. Our ultimate aim are 24 teams. A city like Vienna is ideally suited too, since Dagur Sigurdsson has awakened Austrian handball. The Netherlands are womens vice-world champions. Why should Amsterdam not be a location for a new mens team? Or Prague, St. Petersburg or Reykjavik for that matter? Kadetten Schaffhausen could play PHL as Swiss Cadets, Flensburg could start a joint venture with a Danish club. Our credo is: Anything goes, nothing is cast in concrete.

How about the expansion outside Europe?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
We have requests from the Near East, not just from Qatar. But we need to begin by doing our homework within Europe. But it is an option to have an Arab team in the starting lineup. br />
PHL is to replace the unpopular Champions League as a premium product. Surely management in Vienna is not amused....

Wolfgang Gütschow:
Difficult to say. I wrote a very frank and open letter to EHFs general secretary on the project. I think that is the way to do it, if you have been acquainted for almost 25 years. Differing views do not have to lead to animosities. But he has refused the offer of an informative meeting, which I found regrettable, but understandable with regard to his sports-political ambitions.


You are said to have headhunted EHFs most important employee in Marketing Director Peter Vargo...

Wolfgang Gütschow:
Peter Vargo has been the heart and soul of the Final4 in Cologne for many years. A project such as PHL can only be set up with top managers. The structure of our personnel politics is the assembly of handballs most able minds.

Will there be a cooperation with EHF after all? Bob Hanning has tried to initiate talks.

Wolfgang Gütschow:
That is barely possible, since we are not under governance of EHF. PHL is planned as a world league and thus in the responsibility of IHF.

So talks with IHF are on the agenda?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
Well, perhaps. Since IHF does not run any actual international club competition, PHL could fill this void. Politically this is an exciting situation, as an IHF tolerated world league would call into question the neccessity to have a monopoly for EHF to run club handball europewide. But this is not for us to decide, we are independent and unpolitical.

Do you fear conflict with the International Handball Federation?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
We are acting openly and without conspirative acitivities. Our philosohpy is a peaceful coexistence. We really have the same aims - make handball great. Dr Hassan Mustafa intends to do so through sports politics and we have an economic agenda. Having the same goals should not result in quashing synergies at the outset.

Sanctions are a possibility, like disqualifications for athletes for WC, Euro and Olympics if they participate in PHL.

Wolfgang Gütschow:
If the federations resort to defending their antiquated monopolist positions, we will aim to conquer all attacks with nonchalant passivity. Disqualifications of athletes would ultimately render international handball irrelevant. A sport that excludes its best athletes from top events will not remain Olympic for long. Handball is one of the endangered sports anyway. In order to remain Olympic we need to develop handball as a world sport on all continents. That is precisely PHLs aim.

Who are PHLs investors?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
There is way too much and unnecessary speculation We have reserved the right to market advertising and TV rights, have a guarantee and the option of a Buy-out. Financing the playing structure thus is no problem. In order to realise the concept we need visions, know-how and plenty of bravery, instinct and good fortune.

Are the clubs involved in the planning stage?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
Of course, the project Premier Handball League would be worthless without the partnership of the clubs. We have many talks with representatives of the clubs and have had pledges. We are now working to integrate their needs into our business model. We will not be making the mistake to take decisions without considering the views of the clubs. After all the clubs are the heart of the sport.

Talking of heart of the sport, does such a league with an American style Franchise model not damage the grass roots of the sport. The EU commission and EU cartel regulation could also be an issue as NBA style structures are not necessarily applicable to Europe.

Wolfgang Gütschow:
You can use American ideas in a Europeanised manner, without robbing them of their liberal ethos. PHL will not only be about money and "The winner takes it all!" but also about international youth projects and about the global promotion of an essentially European sport. PHL has the aim to bring top handball made in Europe to the world, ten months of the year, thus multiplying the number of people playing handball and looking to Europe. It would be a horror scenario for me as a handball enthusiast, if European politics were trying to avert this.

PHL is talked about as being the NBA of handball. Is that an exageration?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
No, NBA very simply stands for game, fun and show. Matches of a Super League need to be events. With all due respect for small clubs, but how do you intend to turn a match against Eisenach or Baia Mare into an event in Hamburg? Handball is popular almost throughout Europe, but the level of performance leaves a lot to be desired in many countries. Medwedi Moscow has no real national competitors, Barcelona and Paris face the same fate. Veszprem and Kielce dominate in Hungary and Poland. We need to join these top teams with the German top clubs, include Scandinavia and the Balcans. We combine the whole concept with art and culture, national characteristics, an attractive ambiance, food and beverages. That gives us our mutlicultural Handball-NBA made in Europe, with the whole world looking on.

What happens to smaller clubs who are not suitable for the show?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
They do not loose out. A Euro League, national Leagues and the local derby will always be happening, in particular because the PHL participants will continue to play in their national leagues. Football Bundesliga has not been hindered by the brilliant development of UEFA Champions League. National club handball will profit from PHL as a whole, and thus the grass roots will do the same.

In what way do clubs have a true say in PHL?

Wolfgang Gütschow:
Our business model is a GmbH & Co. KG which the clubs will enter as shareholders and thus have a say on the marketing of their licences which will be very valuable inn future. The Franchise mode will give the clubs a lot of room for creative business ideas within the process. A modern league and grown up athletes cannot be governed in an imperial manner, as is standard practice in the federations.

Critics say, PHL will destroy handball

Wolfgang Gütschow:
Handball in many arenas is still going on as it was in Vlado Stenzels days. In 1978 Darts was only played in pubs and most people did not even know how to spell Biathlon. These days these sports have incredible ratings on TV. Handball in contrast is technically speaking, due to the burden of complicated regulations, as hard to digest as an opera by Richard Wagner. For a Handball-Gotterdammerung we need a mix of Rolling Stones, Mozart and Techno. If we rejuvenate handballs image, we can even position it in the USA as a brand in a few years time.

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