The 36 DFL clubs met at a meeting in Frankfurt to discuss their expectations regarding the future distribution of money – a decision is expected to be made at the end of January.
Representatives of the 36 clubs in the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga met on Thursday (January 16, 2025) in a hotel in Frankfurt am Main for a general meeting of the German Football League (DFL).
Borussia Dortmund’s managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke, who is also spokesman for the DFL executive committee, said after the meeting: “It was a very good event at a high level, which wasn’t necessarily expected.” Recently, several club representatives expressed their expectations of the future distribution of money in the media.
Watzke: Result by the end of January
There was no vote on so-called guardrails or a recommendation to the DFL presidium, which decides on the future distribution of money, said Watzke. “We want a result by the end of January.”
There is a meeting of the presidium on Friday. Basically, a little speed is required: the licensing process begins on March 15th, the clubs have to prepare their plans beforehand and know their income.
| person | club |
|---|---|
Hans-Joachim Watzke* | Borussia Dortmund |
Oliver Leki** | SC Freiburg |
Steffen Schneekloth*** | Holstein Kiel |
Michael Diederich | Bayern Munich |
Ok Divine | FC St Pauli |
Axel Hellmann | Eintracht Frankfurt |
Holger Schwiewagner | SpVgg Greuther Fürth |
Marc Lenz | DFL |
Steffen Merkel | DFL |
*Speaker
**1. Deputy Speaker
***2. Deputy Speaker
In the auction of media rights for the four seasons from 2025/26 up to and including 2028/29, the DFL achieved a slight increase of almost 2 percent. An average of 1.121 billion euros is now available per season, which is distributed to the 36 clubs.
How the money is currently distributed
The distribution was reorganized for the 2021/22 season. The money from media rights is currently paid out to the clubs via four pillars:
- Equal distribution (50 percent): Every club receives the same fixed basic amount. In the Bundesliga that is currently around 26.6 million euros, in the 2nd Bundesliga 7.4 million euros.
- Performance (43 percent): The clubs’ performances are weighted using two different five-year ratings and a ten-year rating.
- Offspring (4 percent): The training of young players in the clubs as well as the playing minutes for talents trained in Germany pay off.
- Interest (3 percent): An analysis by the Allensbach Institute is intended to provide information about what interest there is in the 36 clubs among the German-speaking population aged 14 and over. This money will be distributed accordingly.