Section 33 of the German Civil Code sets the default rule for changing the statutes of a registered club. A club’s own statutes may provide otherwise. A change needs three quarters of the votes cast. A change of the club’s purpose needs the consent of all members. Members who are absent must give their consent in text form, for example by email.
On 1 June 2017, the members of VfB Stuttgart voted on moving the professional football department into a separate company. This required a three-quarter majority. 9,099 members voted, and 84.2 percent of the valid votes said yes. Daimler then paid 41.5 million euros for 11.75 percent of the new company.