Should the VfL Wolfsburg soccer team complete the German championship this Sunday in Jena, only a few hundred fans will be there.
The spectator dilemma in the women’s Bundesliga is an eternal one – while world records are falling in the Champions League and full stadiums are expected at the European Championships in England in July. But that should change now: The DFB announced in a video switch “highlight games” in large stadiums for the new season.
“We’re committed to setting good examples. But we’re aware of the opportunities we have. If we manage to play in five, six, seven stadiums like this in the future, we can become pioneers,” said Siggi Dietrich , Chairman of the Women’s Bundesliga Committee and manager of the women at Eintracht Frankfurt. There had been plans in this direction before, Corona intervened. Before the pandemic, an average of just over 800 spectators came to games in the Bundesliga.
Record attendance in Barcelona
VfL Wolfsburg lost to FC Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals last weekend in front of a record club crowd of 22,057 spectators. The first leg at the Camp Nou was seen by 91,648 – never before have there been so many visitors at a women’s football game. FC Bayern played their quarter-final home game against Paris Saint-Germain in the Allianz Arena for the first time and welcomed 13,000 spectators.
Matches in larger stadiums should preferably take place during the men’s international match weeks. “As an association, we try to provide additional support, for example with a ticketing platform,” said Manuel Hartmann, DFB’s managing director of game operations. In order to achieve greater reach on television and among viewers on site, the DFB is also considering expanding the league (currently twelve teams).