Hasret Kayikci has already experienced a lot in her career – low points such as her cruciate ligament tear after a junior tournament and the impending end of her career, highlights such as her eleven international matches and her participation in the 2017 European Championships under national coach Steffi Jones. The 31-year-old is now captain of SC Freiburg, which is looking forward to the opening game of the new Bundesliga season against champions Bayern Munich (Friday 6.15 p.m./ZDF). For the first time, more than 10,000 spectators are expected in the Dreisamstadion, and even the SCF Ultras have announced their presence. In addition, there is an audience of millions on television, although the broadcast is not in direct competition with the top men’s Bundesliga game (FC Bayern against Leverkusen at 8.30 p.m.).
Of course, that’s not entirely unimportant on this football evening, where Kayikci has “nothing to lose” with Freiburg, as she says. Despite the defeat, she felt that the DFB Cup final against VfL Wolfsburg in front of full stands in Cologne a few months ago was an “appreciation that we have fought for all these years”. The struggle for attention and recognition will probably continue to play out in women’s football for a while.
It was therefore even more of a hindrance that the German national team had an embarrassing exit from the World Cup in one of the easiest preliminary group against Morocco, Colombia and South Korea. “We missed a great opportunity to create role models for the new generations,” said Joti Chatzialexiou, the national team sporting director at the DFB. The debate had already begun in Australia about what consequences the early end of the World Cup could have on everyday life. “I’m not afraid that the upswing will slow down now. The league is too attractive for that,” says Ralf Kellermann, director of women’s football at VfL Wolfsburg.
The argument against this is that there is a certain monotony. Since 2013, Wolfsburg and FC Bayern have shared all national titles. Both clubs have gained a huge lead over the rest of the league in terms of sport and economy and are continuing to increase their budgets in order to be internationally competitive. Champions Bayern have just signed Denmark’s Pernille Harder and Sweden’s Magdalena Eriksson, two top international players. This is one of the reasons why a majority of the eleven coaches and one female coach see the Munich team ahead again. Wolfsburg’s coach Tommy Stroot, of course, sees it differently: “We are going into the season with the clear goal of becoming German champions.”
The discord in the national team was never discussed publicly
The title fight seems a bit tiring because Eintracht Frankfurt and TSG Hoffenheim won’t be able to break into the phalanx any time soon. But diversity wasn’t there before. Between 2001 and 2012, the all-women’s football clubs 1. FFC Frankfurt and Turbine Potsdam shared the championship titles.
What will be exciting this season will be the role of promoted team RB Leipzig, who want to become at least the third force in the medium term. For 1. FC Nürnberg, which is back in the first class after 23 years and plays its home games in the large Max Morlock Stadium, it is probably all about staying in the league.
The league pauses again immediately after the first matchday, because then the national players meet for the Nations League games in Denmark (September 22nd) and against Iceland (September 26th). Can new momentum be generated in the games after the bitter World Cup? In any case, the many upsets during the tournament are still only talked about behind closed doors. The division of the DFB squad into two groups – regular players and substitute players – definitely contributed to atmospheric disturbances.
Open detailed view
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (left) cannot fulfill her duties as national coach, Britta Carlson will replace her.
(Photo: Peter Kotzur/Zink/Imago)
So far, not even trace elements have been made public from an analysis. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf had many discussions, but did not follow a minute of the World Cup live in Australia; he wanted to fly there first for the round of 16. There are also whispers in the league about a supposed preference for players from Wolfsburg. Tobias Trittel, the spokesman for the DFB women’s league committee, doesn’t want to say anything about this because he works for VfL himself. Just like Britta Carlson, who is now assistant coach of the DFB women and represents the ill national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.
It seems as if the protagonists would like to be treated as if they were in a nature reserve: just don’t disturb them! You don’t like to hear critical words; you’d rather pat yourself on the back for the new TV deal, which will ensure greater visibility for the women’s Bundesliga in its 34th season. A four-year contract with a volume of 20 million euros creates a colorful package of live games and highlights: ARD and ZDF show ten games, Magenta and Dazn broadcast all 132 games, Sky brings summaries, Sport1 has acquired the rights for the Monday games.
The average audience is increasing – but the losses are still high
In the future, each match day will therefore be divided into six different kick-off times. National team captain Alexandra Popp noted critically that this does not suit all players because they are also studying or working. In addition to the presence on TV, games in large stadiums should also help to inspire a wider audience. In mid-October, during the next international break in men’s football, Bayern (against Frankfurt), Werder (against Cologne) and Leipzig (against Wolfsburg) will move to the men’s teams’ venues.
It was also because of such games that the league average climbed to 2,723 visitors per game last season. An increase of 220 percent. But further growth is necessary. Thanks to the central marketing of the TV rights, there are now 855,000 euros per club. But for now it will remain the case that the league is making a loss – the latest average was 1.5 million euros for each of the twelve clubs. For black numbers, a setting like that on Friday in Freiburg’s Dreisamstadion must become the rule rather than the exception. Hasret Kayikci continues to play and fight for it.
