Bundesliga (Football) – Germany – 42,421

Bundesliga (Football) – Germany – 42,421

 Bundesliga is Germany’s elite football competition, founded in 1962 and the first season started in 1963. It is contested by 18 teams each season, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the last two teams in the final season standings. Based on UEFA’s popular league coefficient ranking system, the German Bundesliga is one of the most competitive professional football leagues in Europe, currently ranked 3rd behind the Spanish La Liga and the English Premier League. The league is broadcast on television in over 200 countries worldwide.

In terms of average attendance inside the stadium throughout the season, the Bundesliga is the number one football league around the globe. The league’s clubs have a well-renowned football fan-base not only in Germany, but in several other parts of Europe as well. Out of Europe’s five major football leagues (the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga, the Italian Serie A, the Spanish La Liga and the French Ligue 1), the Bundesliga has the cheapest ticket prices and the highest average match attendance; the ticket prices are made low so that even the poor can afford to watch their teams’ matches inside the stadium. Borussia Dortmund, the 2010-11 and 2011-12 Bundesliga champion, has the highest average match attendance of any football club in the world.
In the 2012-13 season, Bundesliga boasted an average match attendance of 42,421. The total number of matches the 18 teams in the league played was 306, and the total attendance throughout the season was 13,038,533, which is still more than that of the Premier League although there are only 18 teams in the Bundesliga. Here’s how the average match attendance changed in the last five seasons:

• 2012/13 – 42,421
• 2011/12 – 45,116
• 2010/11 – 42,673
• 2009/10 – 41,802
• 2008/09 – 42,565

In the Bundesliga, all the clubs are obliged to limit the number of season tickets to ensure that everyone gets a chance to watch the matches live. In addition to that, the away club has the right of 10% of the available stadium capacity during each match. According to Bundesliga chief executive Christian Seifert, “Tickets are inexpensive, especially for the standing rooms, because it is not the clubs’ culture to raise prices. They are very fan oriented.”
Also, Uli Hoeneß, the president of Bayern Munich, was once quoted as saying “We do not think the fans are like cows to be milked. Football has got to be for everybody. That’s the biggest difference between us and England.”