According to the German Football Association (DFB), professional clubs have increased their investment in women’s football by 135% over the last six years. This financial boost coincides with a roughly 30% rise in the number of girls playing the sport in Germany since 2022.
Celia Sasic, a former Germany striker and the DFB’s diversity and inclusion head since 2022, credits these gains to newly established structural support. “We’ve focused on the issue and established new structures, so that there is now a separate department with its own sports director,” Sasic told DW. She emphasized that clear responsibilities for professionalization are essential for the sport’s continued growth within licensed clubs.
Data from 2025 underscores the surge in public interest. The most-watched football match involving a German team that year was the Women’s European Championship semifinal against Spain, attracting approximately 14.26 million viewers and a 57.6% market share. By comparison, the men’s Nations League semifinal against Portugal drew around 10 million viewers.
Sasic, who won European championships with Germany in 2009 and 2013, noted the cultural shift. While she grew up with male role models like Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, and Michael Ballack due to a lack of visible female stars, today’s young players have icons like captain Giulia Gwinn, Jule Brandt, and Lea Schüller to look up to.
Despite the enthusiasm, significant financial disparities persist. Figures from the DFB and the German Soccer League (DFL) reveal that personnel expenses for the 12 Women’s Bundesliga clubs totaled just under €30 million in the 2024–25 season. In contrast, the 18 men’s Bundesliga clubs spent €1.72 billion on players and coaching staff during the same period—a difference of roughly 60 times.
Salary comparisons highlight the gap further. The average base salary for a women’s Bundesliga player in the 2023-24 season was approximately €48,000, whereas Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane earned an estimated €25 million. Annalena Baerbock, former German Foreign Minister and UN General Assembly president, acknowledged that football mirrors broader societal gender inequality but argued that change is possible.
“We know from the USA, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Spain that if you really want to invest in women’s football, equal pay is an important part of that,” Baerbock said, pointing to tournament bonuses as a key area for improvement.
Sasic stressed that clubs must provide comprehensive resources, including pitches, medical care, fitness facilities, and full-time coaching staff. A new DFB rule effective in the 2025–26 season mandates that Women’s Bundesliga teams employ assistant, goalkeeper, and athletic coaches professionally. With the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil on the horizon, Sasic hopes a strong German performance will drive further visibility and broadcast records for the women’s game.
Harry Kane’s salary versus the average women’s player pay is absolutely shocking. Investment is rising, but we are nowhere near equal footing yet.
It is impressive that viewership is already surpassing men’s matches, yet the salary gap remains so vast. True equality needs more than just exposure.