Things are actually going really well for the women’s Bundesliga right now. Several clubs have moved close together at the top of the table: VfL Wolfsburg is in first place with 22 points after nine match days, followed by Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Bayern and Bayer Leverkusen with 20 points each. Such a scenario has been longed for for a long time. As much tension as possible at the top was on many wish lists.
This snapshot fits in with what has been being worked out in the background for months: a plan to make the league more professional, more financially independent and internationally stronger again. A project that has since resulted in the founding of the “Frauen-Bundesliga Projekt GbR Business Plan”. The public found out about this on October 1st. At the same time, some clubs sent an email, others posted a post on their homepage. Three paragraphs were worded the same, others were different, the message remained the same: we should move towards a better future together.
Initially, the headlines talked about a “women’s DFL”. This suggested that the path led away from the German Football Association (DFB) – as with the men and their German Football League (DFL). But that is not the goal. Because for now it’s not about a separation; instead, the clubs and the DFB are trying to work together in an unprecedented way. Exactly: together.
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The project has the support of the boardrooms of the licensed clubs, i.e. FC Bayern, VfL Wolfsburg and so on, which, alongside SGS Essen, Turbine Potsdam and Carl Zeiss Jena, form the majority in the Bundesliga. A task force made up of representatives from the clubs and the association was founded. But the process seems to be dragging on and time pressure is slowly increasing.
The challenges are clear to everyone. Internationally, women’s football is developing rapidly – which is one of the reasons why the clubs “have to deal with increasing spending pressure due to the rapidly growing market,” says Katharina Kiel, technical director at Eintracht Frankfurt. The problem: “This leads to many clubs becoming increasingly dependent on men’s football.” In the 2022/2023 season, the total turnover of the women’s Bundesliga was almost 25 million euros. On average, the income per club was around two million euros – but this amount was spent on personnel expenses alone. Each of the twelve Bundesliga clubs lost an average of almost 1.8 million euros.
The picture in the league is heterogeneous, and the differences are sometimes large
The hope currently lies primarily in the growth of media revenues. The league will receive a total of 20.7 million euros in TV money from 2023/24 to 2026/27. This is sixteen times more than in the previous rights period, but the international standards are now different. A new TV deal will bring the US National Women’s Super League (NWSL) $240 million (225 million euros) over four years starting in 2024. Things are said to be loud in the English Women’s Super League (WSL). Guardian for the next five seasons will be 65 million pounds (78 million euros). The clubs in the WSL and the English second division have just separated from the English FA.
In Germany, too, people have repeatedly asked whether the league is still in good hands under the umbrella of the association. In October 2021, Herbert Hainer, the president of FC Bayern, said in an interview with the SZ: “In general, I expect a lot more from the DFB in this area. Women’s football is still neglected.” Hainer suggested that women’s football be spun off and organized separately “in whatever form”. Ralf Kellermann, director of women’s football at VfL Wolfsburg, had previously demanded: “Women’s football must be included in the DFL in the medium term.”
The DFB reacted and developed the “Strategy Women in Football FF27” – named after the year in which the association would have liked to host the World Cup with the Netherlands and Belgium (Brazil was awarded the contract). The Bundesliga then actually grew, but this was more directly due to the radiation effect of the national team, which made a furious entry into the European Championship final in 2022. While previously an average of 800 to 900 spectators came per game, in the season after the European Championship there were around 2,700; with the average of highlight games in large arenas being pulled up. But that’s not enough for sustainable development. In March 2023, work on the future began again. And the question now is: Why is progress slow?
The topics range from promoting young talent to a minimum wage for the players to the organization of the whole thing. As expected, the picture in the league was heterogeneous: what one club lacked was not a problem for the other. The differences are sometimes big. There is said to have been a correspondingly controversial debate about prioritization and timing. The measures should actually be approved in December 2023 so that the no less complex financing issue can then be addressed. In the meantime, managing directors and board members from clubs whose focus is usually on the men’s teams, such as Frankfurt’s Axel Hellmann or Munich’s Jan-Christian Dreesen, had also joined in. The vision of the women’s Bundesliga had become a top priority. This can have advantages and disadvantages.
In any case, question marks popped up among the clubs. Some people are said to have felt surprised by the abundance of data. Some people rated this as incomplete; factors such as ticket revenue and merchandising were not taken into account. It is difficult to assess how much the development was influenced by the fact that the vote on the DFL’s controversial, ultimately rejected investor deal took place during this phase. When it came to financing options for the investment requirement of 135.8 million euros calculated by the DFB for the women until the 2030/31 season, the association at least did not categorically rule out an external investor. According to reports, this was also a reason why final discussions were postponed.
In order to make its own study more transparent and not to delay the process, the DFB is said to have provided comprehensive access to the data
The clubs wanted to form their own opinion. Those involved had the impression that they were not really taken along from the stage discussions up to the December presentation. So: dispute between the league and the association? According to several sources, there was no confrontation. More like more information.
The clubs came together to discuss the business plan in peace. There are also said to have been individual discussions between the DFB and all clubs. Until the Bundesliga clubs decided in the summer to found the company mentioned – and to commission an agency to analyze, forecast and set goals for the league. This is probably the Portas agency, which was also involved in the spin-off of the Women’s Super League from the English Association (FA).
From the DFB’s point of view, this external review, which is still ongoing, is unnecessary additional work. In order to make their own study more transparent, all clubs should have been given full access to the DFB’s figures – blacked out in sensitive areas. And in order not to delay the process any further, the agency is said to have received all the data with the help of which the DFB had determined the investment requirements for infrastructure, personnel and marketing. “In the end it’s about the higher goal, it’s about the development of women’s football,” says Florian Wittmann, who leads the process at the association in coordination with managing director Holger Blask. “We will never have to be accused of failing because of us. We have always been progressive and transparent.”
Presumably, the clubs and association agree, the agency analysis will not come to blatantly different conclusions than the DFB. But when will it be finished? The measures were originally supposed to be passed at the end of the year. This is going to be close. This also involves compliance with deadlines with a view to the next marketing period for media rights, which begins in 2027/28. With a joint business plan, the negotiating position would be stronger. If this window of opportunity closes because the process drags on and on, then at least this opportunity could be lost.
