The FTW staff give you their elevator pitch on why YOU should root for BVB

The Bundesliga is all set to be the first major soccer league to resume play amidst the COVID pandemic. Many fans of soccer and sports in general are planning to tune in, looking for a source of entertainment that has been bare for two months. We here at FTW think you should root for BVB and not just because it drives our site traffic. Below each of our staff gives their pitch on why you should root for BVB and not those other guys.

Sean Keyser

During agonizing and stressful times such as the ones that plague us today, we look to sports as a distraction from the trials of everyday life. Despite all the history, transfer talk, and endless analysis that sports fans like to obsess over, at the end of the day, professional sports are about sitting down and watching an exciting and suspenseful game for a few hours, and hopefully having something to cheer about at the end. It’s about having fun.

Borussia Dortmund are a fun club. They score goals by the bucket. They’ve got an interesting and quirky cast of lovable characters, from English teen sensation Jadon Sancho to the American Giovanni Reyna. They win more often then not, and when they don’t, it’s not for a lack of trying. It’ll be bizarre watching them at first in an empty stadium, without the world-famous 25,000 man yellow wall rocking at their backs. At first, you may not understand what all the fuss is about.

Sure, BVB are good, but Bayern are good too, and they win shiny trophies! Fair enough. You can choose Bayern or you could choose BVB. To be honest I’d be happy just to have another Bundesliga fan around, but I’d be happier if you chose Dortmund. Then, if one day you make it to the Westfalenstadion after the Covid crisis is over, and you get to stand before the black and yellow mass of shouting and singing Dortmund supporters and you feel an urge to join in, you’ll be glad you chose Dortmund too.

Gregory Horn

I’m currently reflecting on the vast number of persuasive DBQs I wrote in high school and how much I currently want to avoid that. So this is my quick evaluation of why you should root for BVB:

Red Bull is a corporation bent on destroying the footballing world, and turning the world into one vast farm system. Bayern is chummy with billionaires (see Bayern President Hoeneß being chummy with Hoffenheim owner Hopp after games were stopped during anti-Hoffenheim protests) and steals talent, and fair compensation, from smaller clubs. Dortmund stands with its fans to represent the community it plays for. And that is the most important thing in modern football. In a world where a Saudi crown prince is buying Newcastle, Dortmund has never stopped representing the fans, the ultras, and the community - a trait that you will often find in German clubs. Just not Bayern and Leipzig.

Nick Kapatos

Unless you’re a legitimate soccer junkie and have been streaming the Belarusian Premier League or watching old games on various streaming providers, you’ve been with itching badly for the return of live soccer. And with the return of the Bunesliga just a mere days away, you’re probably wondering which club you should throw your support behind.

I was in your shoes following the 2014 World Cup, looking for a player to follow and kind of hoping I’d begin following the club as well. That didn’t work, mainly because either A) the players I was following didn’t get enough minutes, or B) The teams that the players played for sucked. But thankfully, I was able to follow a player that turned out to be pretty good for club and country (you may have heard of him, he’s American) and that turned into passionate support for the club.

While watching Dortmund against other clubs, I found that BVB was checking a lot “why should I root for this team” boxes:

• You want to root for a fun, fast-paced club that scores goals in bunches? That’s Dortmund.
• You want to support a club with likeable players and an ownership group that doesn’t embarrass the fanbase on a consistent basis? Dortmund has both of those.
• You want to support a club with a terrific color scheme and great jerseys to match? Dortmund definitely checks off that box.
• How about a club that has one of - if not THE - best supporters and fans in all of Europe and has maybe one of the best stadiums in Europe? That’s pretty much what Dortmund is known for.
• What about a club that can scout and play promising, exciting young players and put them on an international stage for footballing success? That’s the other thing Dortmund is known really well for.

And while this may not be a selling point for others, but Dortmund are always competing for trophies while coming so close only to fall short. They’re not winning the league year-after-year like Bayern, otherwise that wouldn’t be fun, and they’re not near the bottom of the table fighting for survival, because that can get real old real fast. They’re incredibly competitive, and that hunt for silverware just makes you want to support the team even more.

So while Dortmund may not win a trophy every year, they’re still one of the most exciting clubs to follow in all of Europe with an incredible match-day atmosphere, colors that look great on a kit, and incredibly likeable players. What more could you want from a club?

Brian Meyers

Year to year Dortmund play some of the best and most exciting soccer in the world. If you are looking for goals look no further. We have some of the best young talents in the world with Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland. Both these players have it in them to score a worldy any given game. With flashy stars like Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard and Marco Reus in the mix, Dortmund rarely have a dull 90 minutes.

If team culture is more your thing our team has some of the best fans in the world. The choreo’s that BVB fans do every season put even the biggest college basketball fans to shame

Photo by Bernd Thissen/picture alliance via Getty Images

If you are an American looking for a USMNT angle, we have Giovanni Reyna in our first team. Gio, the son of USMNT legend Claudio Reyna, has impressed with the team this year. Reyna will be the second star US player to come through our ranks and is a sign of great things to come for the USMNT.

Lastly our team is one of the top teams in the league, but doesn't take shady money like some of the other guys. Rooting for a team with a clear conscious that plays good football, what else could you ask for?

Brett R. Bobysud

If you’re like me, and you pick a favorite club largely based on the individual players that play for it, Dortmund might just be for you.

Say you’re a fan of the USMNT. You know who Christian Pulisic is and you also likely know that he got his break with Dortmund in 2016. Fast forward to today and you’ll find another young American talent about to break through with BVB in Gio Reyna. If the name sounds familiar to some, it should. His father Claudio Reyna made over 100 appearances for the USMNT from 1994 to 2006.

You probably wouldn’t believe it when I tell you that some believe Reyna is a better prospect than Pulisic, but if that information catches your interest, come support Dortmund and find out with the rest of us.

Now let’s say you want to root for a club with an exciting young player on the verge of becoming a force in world football. Allow me to introduce you to Jadon Sancho and Erling Braut Håland.

Amidst a group of fast rising youngsters in English football, Sancho is already one of the best and arguably still has his best football ahead of him. And Håland...well, let’s just say he tends to score quite often.

Want to root for efficienct German football? Dortmund has Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Julian Brandt, and Emre Can.

Want to root for a good looking player? Oh-ho-ho, meet Roman Burki.

Photo by Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

I have yet to meet a woman (or a man for that matter) who is not entranced by the Dortmund keeper’s good looks.

Axel Witsel, Achraf Hakimi, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Raphael Guerreiro, Thorgan Hazard, the list goes on and on. Every Dortmund player has a story and a style that you might enjoy.

Other clubs have interesting players as well, but Dortmund has something else that they can’t give. The Bundesliga’s best matchday atmosphere (which will unfortunately not be on display for the foreseeable future). What more could you ask for?