“Milied from equivalent salaries” away ”
The DFB women deserve this
Updated on May 30, 2025 – 4:28 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
The players of the German national team, like the men, belong to the absolute top of the world; However, if you compare the salaries, there is a huge difference.
While even average Bundesliga players earn more than a million euros a year, the things look very different for women. The DFB season report 2023/2024 showed a clear salary gap in football. Bundesliga players earn an average of around 4,000 euros per month, and less than 50,000 euros for the year. Even the top players of the German national team come to FC Bayern Munich or VfL Wolfsburg to a maximum of 300,000 euros annually, which corresponds to around 25,000 euros per month.
A study by Autodoc came to a similar result in 2022, which had compared the salaries of the male and female national teams. While the players of the German national soccer team earned an average of over ten million euros a year, the players of the women’s national team only got an average salary of 43,670 euros. For comparison: The average annual income in Germany this year was 54,880 euros-Bayern stars such as Harry Kane and Manuel Neuer get more than 20 million euros a year.
“We still have to find out that athletes from equivalent salaries and prize money are miles away,” said Karla Borger, President of Athletes Germany in an interview by the German Press Agency. This is also shown by the view of the premiums for the European Championship in Switzerland (from July 2 to July 27, 2025).
The players of the German women’s national team receive significantly higher premiums from the EM 2025 than before. In the event of a title win, each player gets 120,000 euros – that’s twice as much as at the EM 2022. For reaching the quarter -finals, there is 45,000 euros per player, 65,000 euros for the semi -finals and 90,000 euros for the final participation. With a preliminary round, the players do not receive a bonus.
“The development of women’s football at all levels is a top priority at the DFB. We need a sustainable development of the structures and conditions. And we also need more performance incentives in women’s football. The victory premium, which is now doubled compared to the past EM, is therefore an important sign,” explains DFB President Bernd Neuendorf in a statement on the official website of the German Football Association.
Compared to the men, however, the gap remains great: the DFB men would have received 400,000 euros each with an EM title in 2024. There is still no “Equal Pay” at the DFB, even if the premiums for women have increased significantly.
While the top stars in women’s football now earn good to very well, many players in the Bundesliga and the 2nd league hardly get any money for their work-some even play completely without payment. This emerges from a survey by the “Sportschau” from July 2023.
Out of 122 players surveyed, 34 percent stated that they earn a maximum of 500 euros gross per month. 24 percent even said that no salary at all. Another 27 percent were below the EUR 2,000 per month. Only 13 percent stated that they earn more than 2,000 euros – according to the survey, two percent of them are even above the threshold of 5,000 euros.
The “Sportschau” survey is not representative, but similar results had already shown an internal survey from 2021. The long -time national goalkeeper Almuth Schult reported on a return of 370 players from the Bundesliga and the 2nd league. According to Schult, the average monthly earnings in the 2nd league was 900 euros, in the Bundesliga at 1,500 euros.
The figures illustrate: a professional with financial security is not a matter of course for many players in German women’s football.