Football | Women's Bundesliga breaks away from the DFB: Are the playoffs coming now?

Will Lisa Baum from RB Leipzig (l.) and Nina Lührßen from Eintracht Frankfurt soon meet in the playoffs? Photo: Jennifer Brückner/dpa Many people were taken aback when Katharina Kiel once again described very clearly last Friday why the women's Bundesliga ultimately separated itself from the German Football Association (DFB). The president of the newly founded league association (Frauen-Bundesliga FBL e. V.) gave insights into the lengthy and difficult process at a network meeting in the box of Bremen's Weserstadion: "We thought about it a year before the marriage, and in the end we decided not to go to bed together." A comparison that not only illustrated the league boss's self-confidence, but also her determination to stand on her own two feet. The spin-off will now be approved by the delegates at an extraordinary DFB Bundestag on Friday from 3 p.m. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf is now also convinced that the league is making the best progress in terms of both sport and economy.

Kiel spoke of a “formal legal act,” which the association described in the third agenda item of the digital event as “(sub)leasing of the women’s Bundesliga to the Frauen-Bundesliga FBL e.V.” A basic contract regulates the financial relationships, although money should not become a point of contention. The women's Bundesliga recently had a turnover of 43 million euros, while the men's Bundesliga turnover has now reached more than five billion euros. The planned joint venture between the association and the clubs fell through, mainly because of unresolved power issues. The clubs are convinced that they are more agile in a lean structure. “We want to be courageous to do the right thing,” said Kiel, who will soon receive a seat on the DFB executive board.

As of the 2027/28 season, responsibility will be transferred to your organization, which will set up a subsidiary. A management still needs to be found for this. In the best case scenario, a woman will be selected, as 2nd Vice President Klaus Filbry (Werder Bremen) made clear. The CEO of the Green-Whites knows the processes exactly from his time on the committees of the German Football League (DFL). On December 18, 2000, the men's Bundesliga decided to break away from the DFB. The first league secretariat began with six employees in the Otto-Fleck-Schneise. Eintracht Frankfurt's women's department, which Kiel heads as director, is now housed in the same premises of the former DFB headquarters.

At the same time, the 34-year-old expressly appealed to the DFB to “continue to support us: the training happens in the clubs. The national team needs us." This is especially true given the home European Championships in 2029. It is becoming apparent that the top women's league will quickly get a new look. The media rights for the next seasons should be awarded before Christmas. The total fragmentation of the game day will be reversed: in the future, one game will be played on Friday, one on Saturday and five games in the conference on Sunday. The Monday game is cancelled.

In the future, fixed “lighthouse games” will be planned during the men’s international breaks. The atmospheric setting at the northern derby Werder against HSV (1-0) with more than 26,000 spectators on Friday evening should be an incentive for every club to organize a similar event at least once a season. The crucial question is whether playoffs will come. While FC Bayern and VfL Wolfsburg reject this option, the majority of clubs are in favor of it. It would be a novelty for German professional football.

Kiel would find it “extremely attractive if we created an arc of tension with the playoffs. We will test the model in the market. Ultimately, the clubs decide. Bayern and Wolfsburg have expressed their reservations for understandable sporting reasons. If the playoffs don't bring in significantly more money, everything could stay as before. Because media revenues only make up ten percent of revenue. And of course there are dangers when a surprise champion is not competitive in the Champions League. This season only Bayern is playing in the premier class, Wolfsburg embarrassed themselves in the playoffs against Inter Milan, Frankfurt failed after being defeated by the overpowering Paris St. Germain. These are setbacks for the league, which has to fight against the loss of importance.

Filbry assured that the licensing clubs networked in various working groups had clearly committed to supporting the women's Bundesliga for the next eight years: "The clubs want to invest 700 to 800 million euros in order to make up for the competitive disadvantage compared to the other leagues." However, Kiel curbed the expectation that the TV rights, initially awarded for two years, would generate higher revenues than the previous 5.17 million euros annually that the DFB received after the European Championships 2022 with marketing professional Holger Blask. »We are happy when we maintain the revenue potential. The focus is on reach.” Expectations of ten million euros per season are not realistic.

HSV board member Eric Huwer would like to “do a few things better that we can no longer reverse with the men.” He likes the equal distribution of television money among women. The path without the DFB would be more expensive, but the many changes would “not be possible” in the old structure. The league wants to promote higher minimum standards, a minimum salary and better youth development in order to remain competitive.

The wave of migration to England is the biggest concern for Kiel: "We are being pushed extremely into a corner by the WSL (Women's Super League, editor's note). If players in this country were already getting "very good salaries," the island would be offering "monthly salaries four or five times higher - that's the bitter truth." As a result, a promising international player like Carlotta Wamser recently left Bayer Leverkusen for Manchester City almost overnight.

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