Das Leben ist kein Heimspiel (2010)

At the heart of the story are, on the one hand, the efforts of managing director Jochen A. Rotthaus and his crew to turn amateur club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim into a professionally run business within just a few months. “On the side,” he is also overseeing the construction of a stadium with a capacity of 30,000, rising on a greenfield site on the outskirts of the village. On the other hand, the film shows the limits the management team encounters in the provinces: the club’s long-serving employees have to adjust to the increased demands, while people in the Kraichgau initially have little idea what to make of the new ambitions. Even the original fans, who cheered the club on when it was playing in the lowest leagues, are at first not much help. The largest of the five TSG supporters’ clubs has just 80 members. Supporters’ club chairman “Torro” and his fellow members are swept along by the rapid pace of the new football brand. In addition, supporters of almost all the traditional clubs are up in arms against the Bundesliga newcomer. The lack of tradition and the immense financial resources of benefactor Dietmar Hopp anger football fans across Germany. Only through success on the pitch and attractive football can the club achieve economic growth and acceptance among fans elsewhere in Germany. If the team fails, however, the stands in the new stadium will remain empty, the coffers will be bare, and the club will be unpopular. Convincing doubters, winning sponsors, building a stadium, inspiring fans, and collecting points—as the club and the village go through promotions and major disappointments along the way, they are observed over the course of three years.