Bundesliga 2 sets season attendance record | OneFootball

Bundesliga 2: Germany’s second division one of Europe’s best attended leagues

It’s no secret that the Bundesliga has topped Europe’s attendance charts for many years, boasting an unrivalled stadium experience for fans. But did you also know that Germany’s second division is also one of the continent’s best attended leagues?

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By the end of acaptivating 2024/25 season, over 9 million people had attended games in Bundesliga 2. At an average of 30,840 per match after 306 games, that figure beats the previous year's average of 29,109.

Matchday 32 in fact set an all-time record for Bundesliga 2, as 326,246 people attended the nine games.

Schalke had their usual sell-out crowd of 62,094 against Paderborn, Cologne hosted 49,500 against bottom side Jahn Regensburg, Nuremberg had a capacity crowd of 50,000 against high-flying Elversberg. The numbers could've been even greater given Hertha Berlin are able to pack over 20,000 more people into the 71,500-seater Olympiastadion to face Greuther Fürth. Even then, a crowd of 49,000 was larger than any of the three Bundesliga fixtures played on the same day.

It meant an average of 36,250 across the weekend, breaking the record of 35,830 from Matchday 19 earlier in the season.

In fact, six of the 10 most attended matchdays in Bundesliga 2 history were in 2024/25.

Looking at the top 10 average attendances across the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 in 2024/25, there are five teams from the top flight and another five from the second division - of which two didn't even finish in the top half of the table.

Average attendances in Germany in 2024/25:

*Bold means a Bundesliga 2 club

Schalke therefore boast bigger crowds in Bundesliga 2 than 16 out of 18 clubs in the first division. In fact, across all leagues in Europe (regardless of level), only nine clubs had a bigger average attendance at home in 2024/25, and none others outside the top flight.

The Royal Blues, who finished 14th in the Bundesliga 2 standings, came out ahead of the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Atlético Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal and Benfica. That list is led by Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. HSV rank 18th, with Hertha in 21st.

Schalke's Veltins Arena was one of five Bundesliga 2 grounds to host the continents's finest in Euro 2024 last summer, alongside Hamburg's Volkparkstadion, Fortuna Düsseldorf's Merkur Spiel-Arena, Hertha's Olympiastadion and Cologne's RheinEnergieStadion.

In addition to those, Nuremberg’s Max-Morlock-Stadion, Hannover’s Heinz von Heiden Arena and Kaiserslautern Fritz-Walter-Stadion also hold 49,000 or more.

In fact, the average capacity across the 18 grounds this past season was a huge 33,799. With that average of 30,840, that's over 91 percent of available places taken. Just to underline what a major attraction Bundesliga 2 is, that average is more than Italy's Serie A (30,761) and France's Ligue 1 (27,840). England's second tier, the Championship, saw average crowds of 22,047 this term.

So why does it hold such a magnetic appeal among fans? Well, Germany is famed for its fan-first football culture, with the most wide-reaching example of this being the 50+1 regulation that prohibits outside investors from becoming majority stakeholders. As such, clubs retain their connection to their local roots, with the members having the greatest say.

This is also reflected in the fact that spectators are not priced out of the matchday experience. The league average for a season ticket in a standing area last season was a mere is €205 – equating to just €11 per game – while the cheapest season ticket for a standing area came to as little as €150.

Moreover, matchday tickets usually allow fans to ride on local public transport to and from the stadium.

Roaring on your team is thirsty work, and a beer and a sausage are another vital component of any stadium visit in Germany - with affordable prices are the norm across all clubs in Bundesliga 2, allowing supporters to enjoy a game without worrying about their bank balance.

Not only that, but the division itself is simply fun. Fiercely competitive, wildly unpredictable and often deliciously chaotic, comebacks, big scorelines and last-gasp goals are simply par for the course - and none more so than this season.

Or go back to the finale of the 2022/23 campaign, in which the top three were separated by a single point and Hamburg were pipped to promotion by Heidenheim in the most agonising of circumstances is symbolic of the league.

Indeed, over the past 12 years only two teams have broken the 70-point barrier: Hertha in 2012/13 (76) and Freiburg (72) in 2015/16. Holstein Kiel gained promotion in second last season even after losing eight times. Cologne were champions this year with nine defeats and only 10 points more than Hannover in ninth – again, figures that are simply part and parcel of being in the division.

So when you tune in to Bundesliga 2, rather than asking yourself why the crowd is so big, the more pertinent question is: why wouldn’t it be? And why not be a part of it?

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