14 Top Frauen-Bundesliga Clubs Form New Women’s Bundesliga Association Targeting 2027-28 Launch
Fourteen leading Frauen-Bundesliga clubs have announced their split from the German Football Association (DFB) to establish a new Women’s Bundesliga Association, aiming to launch in the 2027-28 season. This initiative seeks to transfer league ownership to the clubs themselves, enabling greater commercial growth and control.
Katharina Kiel, head of women’s football at Eintracht Frankfurt, has been elected president of the new association. Kiel stated that the objective is to maintain connection to the top level of women's football while keeping pace with ongoing development in the sport. The clubs intend to mirror the structure of England’s Women’s Super League (WSL) by taking autonomy over commercial activities, sponsorship agreements, infrastructure development, minimum salary standards, and decisions affecting competition.
Supporters of the move include Bayern Munich’s Bianca Rech, who emphasized the benefits of enhanced commercial control and creating a self-defined regulatory framework with the assistance of external benchmarking. This step is seen as necessary given Germany's relative decline in women's football compared to England and Spain, highlighted by Germany’s group-stage exit at the 2023 World Cup and missed growth opportunities since 2011.
The upcoming UEFA Women’s Euro 2029, to be hosted in Germany, is viewed by the clubs as a catalyst for further development and visibility of the women’s game domestically. Preparations for the 2027-28 media cycle and foundational criteria for that season are underway, allowing for an organized approach rather than a rushed transition.
While the clubs seek to assume league ownership and commercial control, they acknowledge that the DFB currently runs the Frauen-Bundesliga and have stated that negotiations and collaboration remain ongoing. The push is motivated by players increasingly moving abroad for opportunities, and the need to develop parallel revenue streams.
The new association is focused on delivering an attractive on-field product alongside a unified off-field strategy, aiming to secure long-term growth and competitiveness in international women's football.
