Meliorism Sports Consultancy

1. Germany’s Google Pixel Frauen Bundesliga To Expand To 14 Teams From 2025/26 season

The upcoming 2024/25 season will serve as a qualifying season for the expansion. Starting from the 2025/26 season, 14 teams will play in the top division. Therefore, only one team will be relegated from the Google Pixel Bundesliga in the 2024/25 season. The three best-placed teams from the second division will achieve automatic promotion.

The logic behind this move is to accelerate the professional development of teams within the pyramid. The additional spaces are good news for clubs like FC Viktoria (Angel City-like project of Berlin). This will be their 3rd season aiming to get promoted, a feat made much easier with playoff games during the 2024/25 season being scrapped. Success would mean entry into the second level of the pyramid.

Two clubs announcing structural changes are: 1. FC Union Berlin has appointed Jennifer Zietz as Managing Director for women’s football. Restructuring under the one-club ethos, the women’s first team and the men’s team will be part of the professional football division; and 2. SG Essen-Schönebeck 19/68 e.V., who currently play in the Bundesliga, have taken the step to spin off the women’s division as its own corporation independent of the men’s professional setup.

2. Is the Women’s Bundesliga better positioned without the DFB? Is England’s NewCo setting the trend?¹

Katja Kraus, a prominent advocate for women’s football, emphasises the necessity for women’s football to establish itself as a distinct business model. She argues that it must cultivate its own identity and independent strategy, stressing the urgency of accelerated progress.

“In a much shorter period than the next ten years,” Kraus asserts, “the overall development is not progressing quickly enough. The English and Americans have already removed women’s football from their associations, benefiting from significantly deeper media coverage and attracting lucrative advertising partnerships.”

Germany, Kraus warns, risks becoming a mere feeder system for more developed leagues unless substantial investments are made. “We need to invest in the level of play, visibility, reach, broadcast quality, and explore new formats and distribution channels. Strategic partnerships are essential to achieve this,” she emphasises.

Earlier this year, Tobias Trittel resigned as chairman of the DFB Women’s Bundesliga Committee out of frustration with the slow pace of progress. both Kraus and Axel Hellmann (board representative of Eintracht Frankfurt) caution against modeling the women’s Bundesliga as a scaled-down version of the men’s league. “If future standings simply reflect the economic power of men’s clubs, the women’s Bundesliga will struggle to maintain long-term attractiveness.”

Kraus’s call to action underscores the critical need for immediate reforms to secure a sustainable future for women’s football in Germany.

3. The Revival of the DFB Women’s Supercup²

The last Google Pixel Women’s Supercup took place between 1992 and 1997. On August 25 (from 6:15 p.m.), the German league champions, FC Bayern Munich will meet the DFB Cup winners, VfL Wolfsburg at the Rudolf Harbig Stadium in Dresden. This opens mode media buy inventory in what is already a limited market.

4. Nike x DFB Partnership from 2027 – 2034

Dr. Holger Blask, Managing Director of the DFB GmbH & Co. KG, explained: “Awarding a contract to our future kit supplier Nike is the result of a transparent and non-discriminatory tender procedure. Nike made by far the best financial offer and additionally impressed with the content of their vision, which also included a clear commitment to supporting amateur and grassroots sport, as well as the sustainable development of women’s football in Germany. ³ The fee of €100 million⁴ per year is reported to be double Adidas’.

5. Google Pixel Partnership update

Since last season the Frauen Bundesliga has been sponsored by Google Pixel. They agreed on a naming-rights deal for the league worth over $22 million (€20.7 million) over four seasons. It was said that 90% of all revenues from the deal would be shared equally between the teams ensuring $415,000 (€388,000) for each of the twelve teams (pre-expansion calculation).⁵

Speaking at FUSSBALL KANN MEHR gGmbH‘s Hamburg Sport Summit Dr. Anne-Katrin Huebel on the business case for women’s football: Our internal metrics of success show we are over-indexing (speaking on the Google Pixel x Frauen Bundesliga and national team partnership).

6. Volkswagen x DFB partnership renewed till 2028⁶

Volkswagen will also continue to support the both the women’s and men’s DFB-Pokal, as it has done since 2012. The new deal is reported to be in the values of €20m to €22m per year⁷. 

Oliver Blume, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, said: “Volkswagen stands for social responsibility – including in sports. We have a valuable partnership with the DFB. We support football at the top level and across the board: for young talents, women and men. We also support inclusion projects, the amateur game and volunteering.”

7. Germany’s Vision for Women’s Football by 2027

Looking ahead to 2027, the German Football Association (DFB) has set clear goals to elevate women’s football. These targets include:^{8 9}

1. International Success: Both national teams and Frauen Bundesliga clubs aim to win international titles by 2027.
2. Increased Participation: A 25% rise in active female players, coaches, and referees is targeted.
3. Media Coverage Expansion: The DFB plans to double media coverage of women’s football across all platforms.
4. Gender Representation: At least 30% representation of women in committee and full-time management roles within football organisations.

What appears to be missing is a focus on internationalising German women’s football, along with a clear mission statement to grow the Frauen Bundesliga outside of Germany.