Tag: DFB

German football has seen a series of historic firsts in recent months: the first female CEO of a Bundesliga club, the first woman in the executive board of one of Germany’s two biggest clubs, the first female head coach in men’s professional football. If you only look at the headlines, it looks like the path for women in football business has finally become easier. But if you look at the underlying numbers, the picture is more sobering.

A major milestone has been reached in the evolution of women’s football in Germany. The Frauen-Bundesliga (FBL) and the German Football Association (DFB) have agreed on a framework contract that will pave the way for the FBL to independently organize and commercialize Germany’s top women’s football league from the 2027/28 season onward.

As investment in women’s football accelerates worldwide, the Frauen-Bundesliga faces a fundamental challenge: how to remain competitive without abandoning its economic principles. For Manuel Hartmann, Managing Director of Match Operations at the DFB, this challenge can be mounted, but clubs need to be strategic.

Stars and talents alike flocked to the league, and Wolfsburg dominated the Champions League, alongside Lyon, in the early 2000s. Now, this situation has changed. As Manuel Hartmann, Managing Director of Match Operations at the German federation DFB, openly acknowledges, Germany now finds itself “among the leading leagues in Europe, but not at the absolute summit.” What is the federation’s diagnosis for this development – and what are the plans to reverse the trend?  

The future structure of the Frauen-Bundesliga remains one of the most pressing questions in German women’s football. In recent months, discussions around a potential joint venture between the German FA (DFB) and the league’s 14 clubs have stalled, leaving the competition in a state of strategic uncertainty. To get insights into the status of the negotiations, The Rise of Women’s Football spoke to Manuel Hartmann, Managing Director of Match Operations at the DFB.