analysis
When it comes to professionalizing the women’s Bundesliga, the 14 clubs and the association did not agree on the contract for a joint venture. The spin-off will be a solo effort for the clubs.
Katharina Kiel did not look happy when the Eintracht Frankfurt director responsible for women walked across the grass in the Brentanobad stadium last Sunday (December 7th, 2025) to offer plenty of consolation. The Eintracht footballers lost the Bundesliga top game against FC Bayern 5-0. The champions are once again far ahead of the rest of the league.
And yet there is a unity in the top women’s league that has rarely been seen in this form among the men. Everyone is pulling together to professionalize the league. On Wednesday at 2 p.m. the official founding ceremony for the Women’s Bundesliga FBL eV will take place in the Adler Business Club at Deutsche Bank Park, the home of Eintracht Frankfurt. The founding by the 14 clubs becomes a formality, after which the three-member executive committee is elected, which presents itself at a press conference at 4 p.m.
Katharina Kiel becomes the new president
What is certain is that the 33-year-old Kiel will be chosen as the new president. According to Frankfurt’s CEO Axel Hellmann, the former Bundesliga player is “extremely knowledgeable, committed and well connected with the clubs”. You can think about things in the big picture. And she gets along well with Bianca Rech from FC Bayern, who should also receive broad approval as vice president.
According to Sportschau information, Florian Zeutschler from SGS Essen could complete the management team. A diverse mixture to address future questions. The heterogeneity of the league from the top club to the training club would be perfectly reflected.
And all of this for the time being without the German Football Association (DFB), which, in the person of President Bernd Neuendorf, actually sold the joint venture to the Bundestag as a beacon. The deal will not go ahead for the time being. The former politician was on his way to the World Cup draw in Washington when events came to a head last Thursday (December 4th, 2025).
Axel Hellmann fell from his chair
Leading club representatives publicly made serious allegations against the association in coordinated press releases. A one-time process. Frankfurt’s boss Hellmann spearheaded this power struggle. “We have to be careful that such an approach does not lead to an irreparable loss of trust”said the lawyer. Because the association allegedly asked for decision-making powers that were never agreed upon.
Despite an alleged agreement, one has “Post” receive, “read this and fall off your chair”explained Hellmann. The DFB denied having broken agreements. According to reports, DFB managing director and general secretary Holger Blask brought demands into the contract that were offensive to the clubs. Nevertheless, the marketing professional also announced that he wanted to continue discussions with the clubs – “constructive and objective”.
The proposed company (FBL GmbH) can still be founded in which both sides hold 50 percent of the shares. Perhaps the most important point in the power struggle is the question of voting rights. The league association and the DFB would each have three seats in the company’s originally planned six-member management committee. Who has the upper hand in a stalemate? It was also completely open as to who should come as operational managing director. Because of the volume of tasks, Hellmann would have considered two people.
Key questions are still open
According to information from the German Press Agency, the association would charge a standard rental rate in the low single-digit range for its announced investment of 100 million euros over the next eight years. If marketing revenues increase, the DFB expects increased repayments. Here, too, there was no consensus.
And where should the headquarters of the new construct be? The DFB apparently preferred the offices on the campus, which was far from being fully utilized, and the clubs wanted another location in Frankfurt – like the German Football League (DFL), which is based in the Westend financial district. Nobody could have imagined that so many key questions would remain unanswered. Neuendorf in particular gave the Bundestag a completely different impression.
They agree on the independent path: Axel Hellmann and Jan-Christian Dreesen
At the weekend, the mastermind Hellmann made it clear once again who would see himself as the driver of women’s football if the club were to raise up to 900 million euros during this period: “We bear the entrepreneurial risk and have the responsibility. In the end it has to be the case that we have the final right to make decisions.”
Jan-Christian Dreesen, CEO of FC Bayern, made a similar statement: It was completely surprising “to question key points that have already been negotiated”. One thing is also certain for Dreesen: “The clubs want to invest more than 700 million euros during this period. This figure alone makes it clear who bears the entrepreneurial risk and who plays a key role in promoting German professional women’s football.”
Nia Künzer believes in compromise
It is striking that after the big bang of the previous week, conciliatory tones are now being formulated primarily by women. During the draw for the DFB Cup quarter-finals for men and women in the Dortmund Football Museum on ARD, DFB sports director Nia Künzer was confident that both sides would still come together. “I am still optimistic that the talks will be held. We have a common goal – it can only be done together”emphasized the 2003 world champion, who played for a long time at 1. FFC Frankfurt, which merged with Eintracht in 2020. You have to get the momentum through Awarding of the 2029 Women’s European Championship to Germany use together.
Neuendorf said on “Welt-TV”: “We will approach each other and come to a solution.” The shareholder agreement will ultimately be further negotiated: “We absolutely stand by our statements and our financial commitment.” Especially with a view to the Women’s European Championship in 2029, solidarity is needed in order to avoid any gap to the top nations economically and sportingly.
England’s league is already over
England is with the Women’s Super League (WSL) similar to that Premier League has long been the benchmark among men and attracts stars from all over the world thanks to its financial strength. Several German national players could move to the island in the summer because many contracts are expiring.
After all, the women’s Bundesliga has already set an exclamation mark in this European Cup season. Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg are doing well in the Champions League, Eintracht Frankfurt has already reached the quarter-finals of the new UEFA Women’s Europa Cup after a major upheaval. And their manager Kiel has said several times how much she is looking forward to magical nights with the women under the eagle roof.