It has been one of the most exciting Bundesliga seasons in years! Great results in the European cups meant that as many as seven German teams will play in next season's competition, and it may not stop there. Alongside the solid play, crowds of fans flocked to the stadiums. Where were most of them?

German synonym for solidity

A historic season. After many years, we met the new German champion, Bayer Leverkusen, who did not lose a single league game throughout the campaign. Despite this, it appears that, compared to the previous season, the number of fans attending Bundesliga matches... dropped by almost 9%. However, this should come as no surprise. Instead of giants like Olympiastadion, matches were held in smaller, atmospheric German arenas.

In the 2023/2024 season, a total of 12,089,363 tickets were sold, and counting Bundesliga 2 results, more than 21,000,000. The highest attendance was generated by matches involving Borussia Dortmund, filling the entire Signal Iduna Park 16 times (81,365 seats). Interestingly, BVB also attracted the highest number of spectators for its away matches, averaging over 50,000.

© saison_tagebuch | Signal Iduna Park 

100% club - Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and... FC Heidenheim?

Two German giants and one surprise. Clubs where every match sold out of tickets. Bayern and Borussia are at the same time the teams that each attracted more than 1,200,000 spectators in the past season. The number of fans does not always go hand in hand with results, which for most clubs would be good, but for brands such as these - were a disappointment.

In addition, FC Heidenheim, who had just played their first season in the Bundesliga and advanced to the Conference League qualifiers. The club, founded in 1846, was more likely to change its name and merge with other teams than be seen as a strong contender. It was a surprise both sportingly and in terms of attendance. Despite Voith-Arena capacity being the smallest and it's only 15,000, the keen fans certainly did not disappoint their players.

It is also worth mentioning the teams that were close to reaching 100% attendance. As many as eight teams were above 99%, including the undisputed German champion Bayer Leverkusen and two relegation contenders: SV Darmstadt 98 and 1.FC Köln. The strongest club and the two weakest, but they have one thing in common - the crowds in the stands.

© Stadiontour.at | Voith-Arena

Biggest disappointments

Now let's take a peek at the other side of the table, where potential was most wasted, despite good results. Above all, the most outlier was TSG Hoffenheim. The team was promoted once again to the European cups, but the biggest limitation is the fact that the club is located in the small town of Sinsheim, 40,000 inhabitants, quite far away from the larger sports cities. The attendance at PreZero Arena was 82%.

The second weakest team was VFL Wolfsburg, who have been playing below fan expectations for the past three seasons, unlike the women's section. The stadium, which opened in 2002, is one of the smaller ones, yet it was emptier than other comparable venues. Attendance was around 88%.