Increase by about 280 percent: Record result for the awarding of licence rights for stickers and trading cards including NFTs

DFL/Getty Images/Christian Kaspar-Bartke
  • Total income from 2023–24 in excess of €170 million
  • Revenue has increased about fourfold in comparison between the current season (2021–22) and the first season of the new rights cycle (2023–24)
  • OneFootball, Sorare and Topps will be awarded the contract – innovative digital offerings make a substantial contribution to growth
  • Donata Hopfen: “Important piece of planning certainty for clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 in difficult economic times”

17 May 2022 – The clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 can expect record incomes from the sale of global licence rights for stickers and trading cards, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), from the 2023–24 season.

The total revenue generated by the awarding for rights conducted by the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga is already in excess of €170 million – even though some rights were initially not awarded or only for two seasons (2023–24 and 2024–25). This process serves the purpose of being able to flexibly take into account current developments, mainly in the field of NFT-based digital products in the coming years.

In the comparison between the current season (2021–22) and the first season of the coming rights cycle (2023–24), this is approximately a 280% increase in revenue.

“The clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 are receiving an important piece of planning certainty in difficult economic times”, said Donata Hopfen, DFL CEO. “The investment from our partners underlines the enormous popularity that German professional football enjoys. I am delighted that the design of the rights packages with classic products and innovative digital opportunities has been well received”, she added.

An overview of the rights awarded:

  • OneFootball has acquired the licence rights for a digital trading card collection (2023–24 to 2024–25). The package also includes exclusive rights to “NFT moments” (NFT-based videos from the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2).
  • Sorare has once again acquired the exclusive rights to use NFTs in the form of digital player items in a fantasy football game (2023–24 to 2024–25 seasons). Sorare had already secured the same rights for the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons.
  • Topps – already official licence partner of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 since the 2008-09 season – has acquired the rights for stickers, trading card games and trading card collections in both physical and digital form (2023–24 to 2028–29) and as NFTs (2023–24 to 2024–25). Topps was granted the exclusive rights for physical products in the process.

“We are pleased to be continuing our fantastic cooperation with Sorare and Topps and, at the same time, expanding our cooperation with OneFootball, one of our established international media partners, to the area of licence rights,” said Robert Klein, CEO of the DFL subsidiary Bundesliga International, which conducted the tendering and award of the rights packages: “We will continue to work very closely with our partners in the coming years and support them in satisfying demand for existing products and new ones from fans all over the world.”