The planned joint venture between a newly formed women’s league association, Frauen-Bundesliga FBL e.V. (FBL), and the German Football Association (DFB) has collapsed. The 14 Women’s Bundesliga clubs announced the breakdown after their first general meeting in Frankfurt this week. The DFB said it “regretted” the clubs’ decision. Here are the key questions and answers about the dispute and what it could mean for women’s football in Germany.
Why does the Women’s Bundesliga need to change?
Germany’s domestic women’s league has fallen behind other European competitions, a gap visible in the Champions League. The last German club to win the continent’s top prize was 1. FFC Frankfurt in 2015. Since then, the trophy has been claimed mainly by teams from France (Lyon six times), Spain (Barcelona three times) and England (Arsenal last season). Women’s leagues in those countries have professionalized significantly over the past decade, in structure and pay, attracting many of Europe’s best players away from German clubs.
What has been done so far to professionalize the Women’s Bundesliga?
In 2022 the DFB introduced the FF27 (Women’s Soccer 2027) program aimed at boosting the sport’s visibility and professionalism, with the goal of German clubs returning to European success by 2027. For the 2024/25 season the top division was expanded from 12 to 14 teams. Most clubs are affiliated with men’s Bundesliga sides; the exceptions are SGS Essen and Carl Zeiss Jena, which currently sit near the bottom of the table. Attendance has been flat in recent years but this season showed an upward trend, averaging about 3,600 spectators per game as of February 6, 2026, compared with roughly 6,400 in England’s Women’s Super League.
What did the original plan for a new Bundesliga structure entail?
To further professionalize the competition, clubs and the DFB proposed a joint-venture model based on the men’s setup, where the German Football League (DFL) organizes and markets the first and second divisions in cooperation with the DFB. The idea was to establish a similar partnership for the women’s Bundesliga, giving clubs a stronger role in league management while maintaining cooperation with the DFB.
What went wrong?
In December the 14 Bundesliga clubs launched the FBL without the DFB, accusing the federation of breaking its promise. The clubs say the DFB later sought to impose a rule that would require its approval for major league decisions, undermining club control. The clubs argue they should have final say because they invest far more money into the league than the DFB.
In November the DFB told the Bundestag it would invest €100 million over eight years to professionalize women’s football. The clubs have reportedly proposed investing as much as €700 million into the league over coming years. Despite intensive negotiations, no agreement was reached. FBL president Katharina Kiel said the future of the women’s Bundesliga must be determined where the sporting and economic engine lies — with the clubs.
What happens next?
Both sides say they want to keep negotiating, which is necessary if responsibilities and structures for the women’s Bundesliga are to change. For now the DFB remains responsible for running the league and has said it will “continue to ambitiously run the women’s Bundesliga under its umbrella for the time being.” The current season is just over halfway through. But the DFB also depends on the clubs; if talks fail the clubs could boycott the existing competition and attempt to form a separate breakaway league.
This article was translated from German.
Edited by: Jonathan Harding