"Makes league more attractive": Boom in female soccer players continues

Bundesliga - "Makes the league more attractive": boom in female soccer players continues

Giulia Gwinn's mishap was fitting for Bayern's unsuccessful finish in the Bundesliga. The international soccer player was supposed to be substituted against newly promoted Nuremberg, but then realized that her long training shorts were missing for the game.

By the end of the 90 minutes, the crass underdogs from Franconia had taken off all of Munich's leather pants in a 1:1 draw, as they say when the German champions stumble unexpectedly. That's good for the league. More excitement promises more fans, which are needed to ensure that the boom in women's soccer continues despite the World Cup debacle. Another record season awaits: before the winter break, the average attendance is 2990 fans per game. In the previous season, the final figure was 2723.

Curiously enough, Bayern's head of women's soccer Bianca Rech is also happy about games like the one at penultimate-placed Nuremberg: "The level within the league has changed a bit. It's become a bit more balanced," she told dpa. The 42-year-old believes it is more difficult to win games than in previous years "because the quality of the other teams has improved. The teams are better trained, tactically better trained. Accordingly, games are becoming more and more difficult. The result is not set in stone in advance. That makes the league more attractive."

The women's Bundesliga continues to develop

Rech also explained why the league runners-up are keen to be able to lose games like the one in Nuremberg: "We want to remain attractive as a league. That's the only way we can continue to attract players to FC Bayern." This has worked recently, with Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson two top players coming from Chelsea FC and Georgia Stanway from Manchester City the year before. Rech is certain that the league will continue to develop, as will the pace: "It will probably happen quickly, at breakneck speed."

Sports director Ralf Kellermann from league leaders VfL Wolfsburg believes that games in large stadiums are essential for this. "The clubs are required to continue moving to large arenas for selected highlight matches. You can see that it works, even away from the top sporting matches," the 55-year-old told dpa, referring to the match between Werder Bremen and Cologne. A total of 21,508 spectators came to the Weserstadion - the highest figure so far this season.

Up to the end of the year with the tenth matchday last weekend, a total of five matches were played in stadiums where men normally play. Werder also had the highest average attendance in the Bundesliga (6791) due to the highlight match against Cologne. "Spectator numbers have stabilized at a high level after the record 2022/2023 season, and the TV ratings are just as positive," said Kellermann. When his VfL hosted Bayern, the game achieved the best market share of the season so far with 10.5 percent. 1.55 million viewers watched the top duel on ZDF.

Further increasing TV visibility

Behind the two champions of the past eleven years, SGS Essen in fifth place in the table was particularly surprising. The concept of relying on young female footballers was a complete success for the last all-women's soccer club in the league. Managing director Florian Zeutschler has only limited fears of being squeezed out by clubs with a male parent club and more financial power. "We've had 20 consecutive years in the Bundesliga and we want to stay in the league for the next 20 years. It won't be easier, but it's never been easy."

Despite all the investments, "economically sound work is also crucial. We can rightly say that we are a good example for others." There must be a regulation "to ensure that we don't make the same mistakes in women's soccer - if we want it to continue to grow with certain values - as there are in the men's game," Zeutschler demands.

For him, growth also means thinking about expanding the league from twelve to 16 teams: "My wish is for a bigger league, simply to create more sporting visibility with the women's Bundesliga." This could also find an open ear in Wolfsburg or Munich - although Bayern could then be stripped of their lederhosen even more often.