Unanimous decision by the DFL Executive Committee: new distribution mechanism to safeguard principles of performance and solidarity in German professional football

27 January 2025 – Strengthening centralised marketing, rewarding fan and media interest, incentivising the promotion of talent: The Executive Committee of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga e.V. has unanimously approved the mechanism for distributing the revenue from centralised marketing for the 2025/26 to 2028/29 seasons. Various approaches were discussed beforehand and suggestions from the 36 clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 were taken into account.
The new distribution formula is based on existing key elements of the established system. As before, two separate systems will be utilised to distribute the national and international media revenues respectively. In the case of national media revenues, the four pillars of equal distribution, performance, interest and youth development, together with their previous weighting, will remain in place. The share of the Bundesliga 2 in the distributions will continue to be 20 per cent in the future.
With these factors remaining in place, the Executive Committee has decided to implement the following new initiatives from 2025-26:
1. Strengthening of centralised marketing as a basis for shared growth
From the additional revenue of around €80 million generated compared to the last tender, a total of €50 million will be used for centralised investments by the DFL from the 2026-27 season onwards. This is to finance growth projects that will benefit all clubs by strengthening the centrally marketed rights. The clubs will contribute to this internal financing and a strengthened central marketing in line with their respective share in the distribution key.
2. Consideration of fan and media relevance
The previous “Interest” pillar is being redesigned. In the future, in addition to the interest in each club determined by market research, national TV coverage and the number of club members will also be taken into account. The distribution key thus rewards both the club and membership work and the attractiveness of the clubs for TV viewers. The total share of this pillar remains unchanged at three per cent.
3. Solidarity contribution for clubs not playing internationally
As before, the annual UEFA solidarity payments of €8.5 million to date will be paid to the Bundesliga 2. From the 2025-26 season, this amount will increase to €10 million. This serves to support the development of young talent in a spirit of solidarity, particularly in the Bundesliga 2. In addition, an amount of five million euros per season will in future be distributed to Bundesliga clubs that do not play internationally. This is financed by the DFL’s international media revenues – and comes from the portion of the teams that are playing in European competitions.
4. Incentive for playing time for young talent
In the “young talent” pillar, which amounts to four per cent, the use of young players will be weighted even more heavily in the future. This will encourage clubs to use young players trained in Germany.
With its decision, the DFL Executive Board has retained the current system and provided new impetus. The current national distribution formula, with half of the revenue distributed equally and the other half distributed according to different criteria, has proven successful, including in international comparison, in the opinion of the committee. It provides incentives for sporting performance and growth, while also upholding the principle of solidarity within a league association of 36 clubs that characterises German professional football. With the adjusted formula, the DFL Executive Committee is also strengthening the centralised marketing and rewarding the clubs’ positive contribution to media and fan interest as well as to the promotion of young talent.
Hans-Joachim Watzke, Speaker of the DFL e.V. Executive Committee: “We have achieved a good further development of the proven formula through constructive, focused discussions. To reach this outcome, the members of the Executive Committee have brought together a wide range of interests in the best possible way to create an overall perspective for German professional football and ultimately achieved a unanimous result. After the extremely successful rights tender, this is another very positive signal for the league association.”