German professional football sees record ticket demand in the first half of the 2018-19 season

7 February 2019 – The Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 continue to enjoy great popularity among spectators. In the first half of the current 2018-19 season, the number of 9.418.148 tickets sold by the 36 professional clubs marked a record. This represented an increase of around 220,000 tickets or 2,4 per cent compared with the first half of the 2017-18 season (9,198,684). Ever since the figures were first collected, they have been based on the number of tickets sold including free and complimentary tickets, as is typical for other leagues.

As usual, there is a correlation between the development of the individual figures for the two leagues and the change in their composition as a result of promotion and relegation. The average number of tickets sold per Bundesliga match declined moderately by 2,8 per cent to 42,217 compared with the previous season, meaning the Bundesliga remained the undisputed leader among Europe’s top leagues. At the same time, demand in Bundesliga 2 increased significantly by 15,9 per cent season-on-season to 19,339 tickets sold per match.

At the end of the 2017-18 season, Hamburger SV and 1. FC Köln were relegated from the Bundesliga while 1. FC Nürnberg and Fortuna Düsseldorf returned to the top flight of German professional football. Eintracht Braunschweig and 1. FC Kaiserslautern were relegated from Bundesliga 2 while SC Paderborn 07 and 1. FC Magdeburg were promoted from the third division.