Bundesliga facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bundesliga

Organising body	Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL)
Founded	24 August 1963; 61 years ago (1963-08-24)
Country	Germany
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	18 (since 1992–93)
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	2. Bundesliga
Domestic cup(s)	DFB-Pokal DFL-Supercup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Europa Conference League
Current champions	Bayer Leverkusen (1st title) (2023–24)
Most championships	Bayern Munich (32 titles)
Most appearances	Charly Körbel (602)
Top goalscorer	Gerd Müller (365)
TV partners	List of broadcasters

The Bundesliga is Germany's top professional association football league. It's often called the Fußball-Bundesliga or 1. Bundesliga. This exciting league is at the very top of the German football league system.

The Bundesliga has 18 teams. They play in a system where teams can move up (promotion) or down (relegation) to the 2. Bundesliga. Seasons usually run from August to May. Games are played on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. All Bundesliga clubs also compete in the DFB-Pokal cup. The Bundesliga champion gets to play in the DFL-Supercup.

Since it started, 57 clubs have played in the Bundesliga. Bayern Munich is the most successful team, winning 32 of 61 titles. They even won 11 times in a row from 2013 to 2023! Other famous champions include Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, and Werder Bremen. The Bundesliga is one of Europe's best leagues, ranked fourth by UEFA. German clubs have won many European and world titles, like the UEFA Champions League.

The Bundesliga is super popular! It has the highest average attendance of any football league in the world. In the 2011–12 season, it had the second-highest average attendance of any sports league globally, after the American National Football League. You can watch Bundesliga games on TV in over 200 countries.

The Bundesliga was created in 1962 in Dortmund. The first season kicked off in 1963–64. The league was first set up by the German Football Association (DFB). Today, it's run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL).

How the Bundesliga Works

The Bundesliga has two main parts: the 1. Bundesliga (the top league) and the 2. Bundesliga (the second league). Both are professional leagues. There's also the 3. Liga, which is also professional, but it's run by the DFB, not the DFL.

Below the 3. Liga, leagues are organized by region. Teams need a special license to play in the Bundesliga. This means they must be financially stable and follow certain rules.

Being in the top league has many benefits:

• Teams get more money from TV rights.
• More fans come to watch games. The 1. Bundesliga averages over 42,000 fans per game!
• More TV time and fans help teams get better sponsors.
• This financial strength helps teams buy and keep skilled players. It also helps them build amazing stadiums.

The 1. Bundesliga is very strong financially. The 2. Bundesliga is also becoming more stable.

Borussia Dortmund playing against their rivals Schalke in 2009. This game is called the Revierderby.

Some of the most famous German clubs are Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04, and Bayer Leverkusen. No club has played in the Bundesliga every season since it started. Hamburger SV was the last founding club to be relegated in 2018.

Since the 2008–09 season, the Bundesliga uses a special system for teams moving up or down:

• The two teams at the very bottom of the Bundesliga automatically move down to the 2. Bundesliga.
• The two teams at the top of the 2. Bundesliga automatically move up to the Bundesliga.
• The third-to-last team in the Bundesliga plays two games against the third-place team from the 2. Bundesliga. The winner gets the final spot in the Bundesliga for the next season.

A Bundesliga season starts in early August and ends in late May. There's a six-week winter break from mid-December to the end of January. The defending champions usually play the first game of the season on a Friday night.

History of the Bundesliga

Before the Bundesliga, German football was played in many smaller regional leagues. In 1949, players became semi-professional. There were five main regional leagues called Oberligen. The best teams from these leagues would play off to decide the national champion.

Many people wanted a central professional league. They saw that German players were leaving to play in professional leagues in other countries. The German national team coach, Sepp Herberger, said Germany needed a stronger league to compete internationally.

The Bundesliga was created at a meeting in Dortmund on July 28, 1962.

After the German national team lost in the 1962 World Cup, the idea of a national league became even stronger. On July 28, 1962, the Bundesliga was officially created in Dortmund. It was set to start playing in the 1963–64 season.

Many clubs wanted to join the new league. Sixteen teams were chosen based on their past success and financial health. These teams came from different regions of West Germany. The first Bundesliga games were played on August 24, 1963. 1. FC Köln was the first champion.

After German reunification in 1990, teams from East Germany joined the league system. Dynamo Dresden and FC Hansa Rostock were added to the top Bundesliga division for the 1991–92 Bundesliga season.

Competition Rules

The German football champion is decided by how well teams play in the Bundesliga. Each team plays every other team twice: once at home and once away.

• A win gives a team three points.
• A draw (tie) gives one point.
• A loss gives zero points.

The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the German championship.

The top four teams in the Bundesliga automatically get to play in the UEFA Champions League, which is a big European competition. The team in fifth place goes to the UEFA Europa League. The team in sixth place goes to the UEFA Europa Conference League.

If teams have the same number of points, there are rules to decide who ranks higher:

• First, they look at the goal difference (goals scored minus goals against).
• Then, they look at the total goals scored.
• After that, they check the results of games played between the tied teams.

These rules help make sure every team has a fair chance.

Clubs in the Bundesliga

There are 18 teams in the Bundesliga. Here are the teams that played in the 2023–24 season:

Business of the Bundesliga

The Bundesliga is known for being financially healthy. Clubs usually make a profit. They spend less than 50% of their money on player wages, which is lower than many other European leagues.

One unique rule in the Bundesliga is the "50+1 rule". This rule means that football clubs must be mostly owned by their members. This stops one person or company from owning too much of a club. It helps keep clubs connected to their fans and local communities. This rule also means clubs must be financially strong to get a license to play.

There are a few exceptions to the 50+1 rule. For example, Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg were founded by big companies (Bayer AG and Volkswagen) for their employees.

Since 2000, the Bundesliga has required every club to have a youth academy. These academies help train young German players. This means more young German talent plays in the league and for the national team.

The Commerzbank Arena, home to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Fan Attendance

The Bundesliga has the highest average attendance of any football league in the world. In the 2011–12 season, it was the second most-attended professional sports league globally. Borussia Dortmund has the highest average attendance of any football club in the world!

Compared to other major European leagues, the Bundesliga has lower ticket prices. Many stadiums have areas where fans can stand, which makes tickets even cheaper. Clubs also limit how many season tickets they sell. This ensures that more people have a chance to buy tickets for individual games. Visiting fans also get 10% of the available tickets.

The Bundesliga has the highest average attendance of any football league in the world. Borussia Dortmund has the highest average attendance at Signal Iduna Park of any football club in the world.

Here are the attendance numbers for the last few seasons:

Watching the Bundesliga

The Bundesliga is shown on TV in over 200 countries.

The Bundesliga is broadcast on TV, radio, and online around the world. In Germany, matches are shown on Sky Deutschland and DAZN. Some special games are also shown on free TV channels like Sat.1 and ZDF.

You can listen to games on national radio. The Bundesliga is watched in over 200 countries, including the United States (on ESPN), Canada (on DAZN), and the United Kingdom (on Sky Sports).

Bundesliga Champions

In total, 13 different clubs have won the Bundesliga title. This doesn't include titles won before the Bundesliga started or in the East German league. Bayern Munich holds the record with 32 titles.

List of Champions

Champion Stars

Oliver Kahn won eight Bundesliga championships.

In 2004, the Bundesliga started a system to honor champion clubs. Teams that win three or more Bundesliga titles can display gold stars on their jerseys. The more titles a team wins, the more stars they get:

• 3 Bundesliga titles: 1 star
• 5 Bundesliga titles: 2 stars
• 10 Bundesliga titles: 3 stars
• 20 Bundesliga titles: 4 stars
• 30 Bundesliga titles: 5 stars

Here are the clubs allowed to wear stars in the Bundesliga:

• Bayern Munich (32 titles)
• Borussia Dortmund (5 titles)
• Borussia Mönchengladbach (5 titles)
• Werder Bremen (4 titles)
• Hamburger SV (3 titles)
• VfB Stuttgart (3 titles)

Bundesliga Records

Most Appearances

Charly Körbel

Here are the players who have played the most games in the Bundesliga:

Top ten players with most appearances

Rank	Player	Apps	Years	Club(s)
1	Charly Körbel	602	1972–1991	Eintracht Frankfurt 602
2	Manfred Kaltz	581	1971–1991	Hamburger SV 581
3	Oliver Kahn	557	1987–2008	Karlsruher SC 128, Bayern Munich 429
4	Klaus Fichtel	552	1965–1988	Schalke 04 477, Werder Bremen 75
5	Miroslav Votava	546	1976–1996	Borussia Dortmund 189, Werder Bremen 357
6	Klaus Fischer	535	1968–1988	1860 Munich 60, Schalke 04 295, 1. FC Köln 96, VfL Bochum 84
7	Eike Immel	534	1978–1995	Borussia Dortmund 247, VfB Stuttgart 287
8	Willi Neuberger	520	1966–1983	Borussia Dortmund 148, Werder Bremen 63, Wuppertaler SV 42, Eintracht Frankfurt 267
9	Michael Lameck	518	1972–1988	VfL Bochum 518
10	Uli Stein	512	1978–1997	Arminia Bielefeld 60, Hamburger SV 228, Eintracht Frankfurt 224

Top Goalscorers

Gerd Müller

These players have scored the most goals in the Bundesliga:

Top ten goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Apps	Ratio	Years	Club(s)
1	Müller, GerdGerd Müller	365	427	0.85	1965–1979	Bayern 365/427
2	Lewandowski, RobertRobert Lewandowski	312	384	0.82	2010–2022	Dortmund 74/131, Bayern 238/253
3	Fischer, KlausKlaus Fischer	268	535	0.50	1968–1988	1860 Munich 28/60, Schalke 182/295, Köln 31/96, Bochum 27/84
4	Heynckes, JuppJupp Heynckes	220	369	0.60	1965–1978	M’gladbach 195/283, Hannover 25/86
5	Burgsmüller, ManfredManfred Burgsmüller	213	447	0.48	1969–1990	Essen 32/74, Dortmund 135/224, Nürnberg 12/34, Bremen 34/115
6	Pizarro, ClaudioClaudio Pizarro	197	490	0.40	1999–2020	Bremen 109/250, Bayern 87/224, Köln 1/16
7	Kirsten, UlfUlf Kirsten	181	350	0.52	1990–2003	Leverkusen 181/350
8	Kuntz, StefanStefan Kuntz	179	449	0.40	1983–1999	Bochum 47/120, Uerdingen 32/94, K'lautern 75/170, Bielefeld 25/65
9	Müller, DieterDieter Müller	177	303	0.58	1973–1986	Offenbach 0/2, Köln 159/248, Stuttgart 14/30, Saarbrücken 4/23
	Allofs, KlausKlaus Allofs	177	424	0.42	1975–1993	Düsseldorf 71/169, Köln 88/177, Bremen 18/78

Boldface indicates a player still active in the Bundesliga.

Images for kids

• 
• 

  Son Heung-min of Hamburger SV against Eljero Elia of Werder Bremen in the Nordderby.

See also

In Spanish: Bundesliga (Alemania) para niños

• DFL (operator of the league)
• Promotion to the Bundesliga
• All-time Bundesliga table
• List of foreign Bundesliga players
• List of football clubs in Germany by major honours won
• List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues – the Bundesliga in a worldwide context
• German football clubs in European competitions
• UAE German Supercup
• 90elf – defunct German internet radio station that covered Bundesliga matches