September 4 – Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga is one step away from taking control of its own commercial future, with the German Football Association (DFB) calling an Extraordinary Congress for September 18 to approve the final changes needed to hand the competition over to the clubs.
If all goes well, responsibility for running and marketing the top women’s league will pass from the DFB to the Frauen-Bundesliga FBL (the association formed by its 14 clubs at the end of last year) from July 1 next year.
This will include control of the league’s media rights, giving the FBL the ability to run and award its own TV tenders. With the next entitlement cycle approaching, this is one of the most important practical changes in the new structure.
The final step came this week when the DFB and the FBL agreed on the Pachtvertrag, the lease agreement that governs the transfer of the competition. A wider seven-year foundation agreement covering the relationship between the two bodies had already been established in May and approved by the 14 clubs in June.
Congress in a fortnight must now approve the necessary changes to the DFB statutes and the contracts that underpin the transfer.
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf said: “With the agreement on the lease, the DFB and the FBL eV have taken a decisive step for the future of the Frauen-Bundesliga.”
The model will give FBL clubs much more control than the structure originally envisaged. Last September, the DFB and Bundesliga clubs proposed the creation of a jointly controlled company to run and market the competition, a plan that fell apart in February when the FBL rejected the joint venture due to disagreements over decision-making powers.
The DFB said at the time that it “regretted” the clubs’ decision, but negotiations continued and the current deal was eventually produced, which puts the league much more firmly in the hands of the FBL.
It is similar in principle to the relationship between the DFB and the DFL in the men’s professional game, although the two organizations will remain closely linked.
The FBL will become an ordinary member of the DFB and president Katharina Kiel will take a seat on the federation’s presidium. The DFB will also continue to provide financial support in areas such as youth development and the professionalisation of refereeing, as well as helping the FBL establish its new organizational structure.
The federation has separately committed €100 million to the development of women’s and girls’ football over the next few years.
The DFB will retain responsibility for the women’s national teams, the DFB-Pokal and play below the first division.
The 2026/27 campaign will therefore act as a transition year before the FBL takes full control the following summer, with 2027/28 becoming the first season and marketed under the new club-controlled structure.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)
