The immediate future of German professional soccer looked safe after media giant Kirch filed for insolvency, but the Bundesliga faces a lasting financial crisis.
KirchMedia, which owned the rights to Bundesliga games until 2004, filed for insolvency as the whole group struggled to service at least €6.5 billion ($5.7 billion) in debt, leaving the German clubs fearing a vital source of income might dry up.
German Football League (DFL) chairman Werner Hackmann said the body ruling the professional game in Germany had enough cash to support the clubs from the top two divisions until the end of the current term.
"The league has sufficient financial reserves to make sure that we can finish the season without any problems," he said, adding the DFL could count on €40 million in savings from security payments made by the clubs over the past few years.
Officials from the country's 36 professionals clubs would address the Kirch crisis at an emergency meeting on Thursday, the DFL said.
The 18 clubs from the first division expected to get €286.32 million euros from broadcasting rights this season, over 60 per cent of their revenue.
Although major teams such as Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich receive huge income from sponsoring, merchandising and ticketing, others need the television money to survive.
The Kirch group was due to make two payments of €100 million each to the league in May and August, and experts predicted some of the smaller clubs could go bust without the cash.