Der Idealverein als Rechtsform für professionelle Sportunternehmungen

The non-commercial association (Idealverein, sec. 21 German Civil Code) is a legitimate legal entity for professional sports clubs. This legal form is of central importance for commercial sports as well: either the non-commercial association (Idealverein) provides the professional sports section directly as part of its legal entity, or in case of a demerger of the professional sports section as a shareholder of the cooperation. The majority of the legal literature rejects the non-commercial association (Idealverein) as a valid legal form. Jurisdiction also examines the structures of sports clubs. This thesis proposes a new approach considering the sport-specific licensing systems and their effects, with which professional sports clubs can choose and maintain the legal form of a non-commercial association (Idealverein) according to the statuatory provisions, even in economised professional sports.