By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
January 24 – The English Premier League may boast of attracting more fans worldwide than any of its rivals and having the fattest television deals but German officials are flagging up the fact that the Bundesliga still attracts the highest average attendance of any domestic league in terms of supporters through the turnstiles.
The Bundesliga is second only to the Premier League in terms of annual revenue and German Football League chief executive Christian Seifert (pictured) has hailed the “booming” nature of football at top flight level after the 18 clubs generated yet another record collective attendance, this time €2.081bn for the 2010-11 campaign.
The Bundesliga pulled in an average of 42,101 spectators per match, a 0.7% increase on the previous season. Altogether, 12.88 million fans paid to watch 306 top-flight matches in Germany that season.
One reason for the boom is ticket prices which are far cheaper in Germany than, for instance, England, with an average price of €22.75.
“For the ninth time in the last 10 years we have had an increase in fans going to stadia,” said Seifert. “The Bundesliga is booming without a doubt and yet again it is the strongest league in the world in terms of attendances, as reflected in the fact that almost 94% of games were sold out.”
Another reason for the strong attendance figures is perhaps that unlike in England and Spain, there is no one team dominating the league. “An exciting competition with attractive matches, family-friendly prices and modern stadiums are the key factors,” said Seifert who also pointed out that 14 of the 18 Bundesliga clubs made a profit in a league where no single investor can own more than 49% of a club.
“The foundations for this successful path are financial good sense as well as targeted investment in sporting efficiency and infrastructure,” said Seifert who appears to have no worries about UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. “The Bundesliga is well equipped to deal with the challenges ahead.”
Germany’s second division also boasted an improvement in attendance of 7.4% with a turnover record of €384.5m.
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