Rot-Weiß Oberhausen was the first regional league team in Germany to launch a bond. Whether it will actually be implemented is not yet certain.

In an interview with Forecasting before the start of the subscription period on February 2, 2024, the then RWO chairman Thorsten Binder and supervisory board chairman Damian Schröder were optimistic. In the meantime, Binder has resigned. And the so-called cloverleaf bond is in danger of failing.

On Monday evening, just four days before the end of the subscription period, not even half of the minimum acceptance threshold of 250,000 euros had been reached. At 6 p.m., packages worth 121,500 euros had been subscribed. In the past four days, only 5,500 euros have been added.

Almost more serious: So far, only 81 investors have declared their willingness to invest in the bond, which has a term of seven years and a basic return of four percent. The cloverleaf bond was explicitly intended for RWO fans. The minimum investment was set low at €250. This was to give supporters the opportunity to participate directly in the club’s positive future. There would be bonus payments for milestones such as promotion to the 3rd division, staying up in the 3rd division, or winning the Lower Rhine Cup.

The idea behind this was, on the one hand, to tackle the medium-term goal of promotion to the 3rd division in sporting terms, but also to invest in the infrastructure in and around the Niederrhein Stadium. Oberhausen should also, for example, position itself for the future by purchasing an LED advertising board in order to also gain other economic opportunities with sponsors.

All of this now seems to be in jeopardy. We are not satisfied yet, but often it is only in the last few days that movement comes into a bond, explained interim boss Hajo Sommers last week. Apparently, potential investors would still be needed to invest significantly higher amounts than the minimum in order to reach the minimum amount of 250,000 euros. Or they decide to extend the subscription period. Supervisory board chairman Damian Schröder had not ruled this out either.

In any case, no one is talking about the maximum amount of two million euros anymore, which was the cap for the bond.