Ralf Kellermann remembers the 2011 Women’s World Cup
The 53-year-old remembers the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany and the opening game in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, which gave an idea of the marketing potential, but the new dimensions astonish all protagonists. “It was always my dream to play in Dortmund in front of 80,000 people. I never thought that the Camp Nou could be full.”admits Captain Popp. “The spectators are dying for the Champions League to be bigger”thinks goalkeeper Almuth Schult.
With the newly introduced group phase, central marketing and professional television production, the European Football Union (UEFA) has initiated a development that the wide-ranging licensed clubs with well-known names in particular have been waiting for.
Already in the preliminary round, six games took place in the big arenas where the men usually play. Juventus Turin suddenly welcomed 12,000 visitors against VfL Wolfsburg, Paris St Germain had 18,344 fans against Real Madrid. According to Uefa, the average attendance in the group phase was 3,381 per match – more than three times as many as in the women’s Bundesliga.
Paris player Sara Däbritz finds the format wonderful
As is evident from the clear need to catch up on the German side. While the top French teams Olympique Lyon and Paris St. Germain, who are going to play in the second semi-final on Sunday (5 p.m.), are almost used to going to the larger stadium, FC Bayern moved to the Munich Arena for the first time for their quarter-final first leg against PSG.
In view of 13,000 spectators, CEO Oliver Kahn spoke of one “Milestone”, but more than twice as many flocked to the Prinzenpark for the second leg, namely 27,262 enthusiastic fans. That PSG-Ensemble was carried by the scenery to progress. Sara Däbritz, who plays for Paris, finds the reformed Champions League “simply wonderful for women’s football”.
In the women’s Bundesliga, highlight games are soon planned in large stadiums
But Kellermann does not want to criticize German restraint. The maker of the Mittelland Canal points out that before the outbreak of the pandemic, promising talks were being held between the top clubs and the DFB to play individual games in the women’s Bundesliga in larger stadiums. “I am confident that we will soon have highlight games in the Bundesliga with five-digit attendances.”
That could be games like Eintracht Frankfurt versus VfL Wolfsburg or Wolfsburg versus Bayern. Siegfried Dietrich, sports director at Eintracht Frankfurt and spokesman for the women’s Bundesliga committee, warns that “no more time to lose”.
For him it is a priority “Bringing awareness of our women’s Bundesliga to a new, valuable level with more spectators at the latest by the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which may also be held in Germany.”.
15,000 tickets have been sold for the second leg
But there is still a long way to go. Although there is currently no better and more well-known opponent with FC Barcelona Femini, VfL Wolfsburg still has room for improvement when it comes to ticket sales for the second leg (April 30, 6 p.m.). So far 15,000 tickets have been allocated.
Kellerman thinks so “great”After all, you always have to take the number of inhabitants into account. The factory club is expecting 17,000, 18,000 spectators, Popp is hoping for the VW Arena “more than 20,000”. In any case, the Autostadt will be able to report a record for a women’s game at club level – and produce pictures that will certainly fit well into Kellermann’s office.