The German women's national soccer team caused a great deal of enthusiasm with their appearances at the European Championships in England. But how can the euphoria be carried on so that the women's Bundesliga also benefits? As a first measure, the DFB has now decided on games on Monday evening as a unique selling point. This date will be introduced from the 2023/24 season to make women's football more visible and the media rights more attractive for TV stations. The media company that buys the rights to Monday's games can even have a say in the kick-off time. According to information from the DPA news agency, the start of the game can be between 6 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.
Until 2017 there were still Monday games in the 2nd league, which were broadcast by the TV channel Sport1. After years of protests from fans, the date was abolished to the annoyance of the special interest channel. Only this season there are Monday games in the 3rd football league.
For the women's game on Friday evening, too, the TV station with the highest bid can set a kick-off time between 6 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. This is part of the tender that the German Football Association (DFB) is starting this week in line with the EM euphoria and the high ratings.
The DFB offers contracts for the four seasons 2023/2024 to 2026/2027. The documents will be sent to interested companies on Thursday. The decision on the award is expected to be made in early October.
The rights for the women's Bundesliga until mid-2023 in the pay area are currently held by Deutsche Telekom, which is showing the games on MagentaSport for its customers. Eurosport and ARD show live games on free TV.
Meanwhile, the former women's national coach Horst Hrubesch calls for an even stronger commitment from the DFB to women's football after the acclaimed European Championship. "I hope the hype stays and women's football develops. Just empty words won't do," said the 71-year-old in an interview with Sport1. The associations would have to be involved and a program developed that "really works. And that's where the DFB is required. The basis has to be much broader." Women's football should "simply no longer be smiled at in the world": "No one can do that anymore. What the girls showed at the Euro was world class. Not just from the German team. That was first class."
From his point of view, it would be a first sign if the German Football Association (DFB), despite losing the European Championship final against England (1:2 aet), would pay the team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg the full European Championship bonus. "How do you get women to the status they deserve? The DFB should pay the girls the full premium. Because what they have done for football cannot be overestimated," said Hrubesch, who in 2018 Voss-Tecklenburg had coached the DFB women on an interim basis for ten months. The DFB offered a record bonus of 60,000 euros to each player for winning the title, and 30,000 euros each for reaching the final.
In Germany, the youth work is bad, there are "still problems to bring the girls to a really professional level," said Hrubesch, also with a view to training grounds or kick-off times. He also campaigned for the introduction of a minimum wage. But 2,000 to 3,000 euros, as Lina Magull put it in the room during the European Championship national player, is still "not enough" from the point of view of the former national player.
"We talk about the professionals having professional structures for their job at the end of the day, so they should also be paid professionally," said Hrubesch, adding: "The girls who play football in this area have to earn so much money that they don't have to do a part-time job. Only then can we talk about professional women's football."
