Reward for playing “local players”: DFL rewards minutes played by young professionals

A local player during the match: Nicolas Wähling, SSV Jahn Regensburg during the Bundesliga 2 match between SSV Jahn Regensburg and SV Sandhausen in October 2019.

17 November 2020 – This year, DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga is once again rewarding clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 for playing youth players. For the 2019-20 season, this is benefiting certain Bundesliga 2 clubs in particular. The first three places in this analysis are occupied by Holstein Kiel (11,586 minutes played, reward of around €1.9 million), SSV Jahn Regensburg (9,522 minutes, around €1.6 million) and Hannover 96 (9,491 minutes, around €1.6 million).

The reward payout is calculated proportionally based on the minutes played by U23 professional players of “Local Player” status (registered at a club under the purview of the DFB for at least three years between the ages of 14 and 20). The entire development fund amounts to two per cent of national broadcast revenue and thus around €25 million for the 2019-20 season.

In the 2019-20 season, the DFL is once again supporting clubs in all leagues that were involved in the training of licensed players. This financial training reward will also benefit amateur clubs where players who subsequently debuted at a professional club in the Bundesliga or Bundesliga 2 undertook part of their training. For the 2019-20 season, this funding amounted to around €4.2 million.