FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The way is clear for the German Football League's billion-euro deal. After months of campaigning, the DFL leadership around the two managing directors Marc Lenz and Steffen Merkel received the mandate at the general meeting on Monday to begin negotiations for a strategic partnership with an external investor.

At the meeting of the 36 professional clubs in a Frankfurt airport hotel, a motion to this effect received 24 votes in favor, just short of the necessary two-thirds majority that was narrowly missed in May of this year. Ten clubs voted against and two abstained.

"This is a good sign that we want to continue developing the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 together - both the DFL and the clubs," said Lenz. The result of the vote was "a good basis for us to be able to act now," added Lenz, promising: "We will handle it responsibly."

The management of the umbrella organization of German professional soccer will now enter into concrete talks with a potential marketing partner. Six companies are said to have expressed an interest in working with the DFL.

A financial investor is to pay one billion euros for a percentage share of the TV revenue. The contract is to have a maximum term of 20 years and be signed by the start of the 2024/25 season. "The process will run until the end of March next year and should send a good signal for the awarding of the new media rights in the second half of the year," said Lenz.

The DFL intends to use the money primarily to expand its infrastructure. This includes further digitalization and internationalization as well as the development of its own streaming platform.

There was fierce criticism of the decision from the fan camp. "The DFL's fine words during the corona break have finally vanished into thin air. Money is above all else. The uniqueness of German soccer is being thrown overboard for a hopeless rat race with the Premier League," read a statement from the fan alliance "Unsere Kurve".

DFL managing director Lenz contradicted this. "This is not a sale of shares by the DFL, but a revenue model with clear red lines," he said. "This model is very similar to what has long existed in the environment of many clubs."

Nevertheless, there had been resistance to the deal from fans right up to the end. They fear that it will distort competition. "The consequences of this decision exacerbate the unequal opportunities in the German leagues in favor of an increasingly artificial product of the international TikTok world," wrote "Unsere Kurve". The result is a setback.

The supporters had expressed their protest on banners in many stadiums last weekend. "Of course we heard that," said DFL Managing Director Merkel, adding: "We have taken it to heart and reflected it accordingly in the motion."

At the same time, the league management vigorously rejected the fans' fears. "This is not a sale of shares by the DFL, but a revenue model with clear red lines," said Lenz. "The partner's access to sporting issues is excluded. The clubs retain the relevant decision-making authority."

Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen expressed his relief at the majority of professional clubs agreeing to the investor issue. This is an important step for the "development of the league, the opportunity to shape the further development of the digital infrastructure, and we are quite satisfied with that," said Dreesen.

President Oke Gottlich of second-division club FC St. Pauli emphasized that he would "of course respect" the democratic decision: "The important thing in the further process is to achieve a fair and sensible distribution of funds in order to make the national competition more attractive and thus also strengthen it financially." Now we will see "how strong the DFL community really is".

Fernando Carro, Managing Director of Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, welcomed the decision. "In the interests of German soccer, it was necessary to have clarity - whether for or against," said Carro.

At the same time, he emphasized: "Only a small step has been taken today. The work for the management and the executive committee is only just beginning." The DFL management must "negotiate hard with the interested investors, because this is about German soccer's money - and that is not a blank cheque."/edo/DP/ngu