Prehistory (1932-1962)
In the 1932/33 match year, 55 regional leagues still existed throughout Germany under various names - such as Bezirksliga and Gauliga - with first league status. As early as 1932, the then DFB president Felix Linnemann called for the introduction of a "Reichsliga", in which the best clubs would play off the German champion. At the national DFB meeting on 16 October 1932, plans to this effect were presented, but the regional associations rejected the plan. After the National Socialists came to power, however, a streamlining to 16 Gauligen was implemented at the start of the 1933/34 match year, which represented the highest level of performance in German football until the end of the Second World War - with a few variations mainly due to the war.
While football in other major European football nations was already organised in national professional leagues before the Second World War, such as in England since 1888 and in Spain and Italy since the end of the 1920s, in Germany there were large differences in performance between some top teams and the rest of the league in the Oberligen, which were scattered throughout Germany as the highest division. This meant that players often under-utilised in league matches were no longer competitive internationally, and Spanish or Italian clubs dominated the European Cup. The creation of the Bundesliga as the nation's top division with a much more evenly matched line-up was intended to raise the overall level of performance.
In West Germany, the introduction of a national professional league was again discussed after the Second World War. A strong proponent of this idea was Franz Kremer, then president of 1 FC Cologne, who became chairman of the Interessengemeinschaft Bundesliga und Berufs-Fußball in 1949. As before the war, the regional associations were against the idea of a Bundesliga. The DFB also had serious reservations about whether sporting competition and a market economy could be reconciled. Many critics feared that the clubs would become insolvent. Thus, a first attempt to found the Bundesliga failed at the extraordinary DFB-Bundestag in Frankfurt in 1958. In the following period, however, Kremer found important supporters in the national coach Sepp Herberger and the later DFB president Hermann Neuberger. In 1962, a few weeks after the German national team had been eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Chile, Neuberger again proposed the creation of a unified top division. On 28 July 1962, delegates from the individual national associations at the DFB's national conference in the Goldsaal of Dortmund's Westfalenhalle finally decided to introduce the Bundesliga for the 1963/64 season by 103 votes to 26.
Selection of participating clubs (1962-1963)
The newly created league was to feature 16 teams, five each from the Oberliga Süd and Oberliga West, three from the Oberliga Nord, two from the Oberliga Südwest and one from the Berlin Stadtliga.
The qualification of the teams was to be determined by sporting and economic criteria, with only one club per city being eligible. The selection process finally used to find the 16 founding members of the Bundesliga was extremely complicated. The DFB decided on a key after the final positions of the clubs in the upper leagues from the seasons 1951/52 to 1954/55 were rated single, from 1955/56 to 1958/59 double and from 1959/60 to 1962/63 triple. Additional points were awarded for reaching championship finals and cup finals. In addition, infrastructural conditions had to be in place. For example, a club had to have a stadium with at least 35,000 seats and floodlights. The details of the so-called twelve-year ranking were defined by the DFB advisory board on 6 October 1962.
Of the 74 Oberliga clubs, 46 applied for the first Bundesliga season. However, 15 applicants were immediately rejected - including Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hessen Kassel and Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
On 11 January 1963, 1. FC Köln, Borussia Dortmund, FC Schalke 04, Werder Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt, 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Saarbrücken, Hamburger SV and Hertha BSC became the first nine participants. This left 22 clubs for the remaining seven places, which tried in vain to increase the league to 18 or 20 clubs.
On 6 May 1963, Preußen Münster, Meidericher SV, Eintracht Braunschweig, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, TSV 1860 München, VfB Stuttgart and Karlsruher SC were granted admission in Hamburg. The remaining 13 clubs were relegated to the Regionalliga, which was established as the second-highest division below the Bundesliga.
The selection of the 16 clubs participating in the first Bundesliga season was in part highly controversial. For example, 1. FC Saarbrücken was not included for sporting reasons, but because of its stadium and infrastructure. It was speculated that this decision was made because Hermann Neuberger, a member of the DFB executive committee and a native of the Saarland, wanted to get "his" club into the Bundesliga. For purely sporting reasons, either FK Pirmasens or Borussia Neunkirchen would have qualified as the second south-west club alongside 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
There were also heavily debated decisions in the south, west and north. Among the representatives of the Oberliga West, Alemannia Aachen felt left out, as Meidericher SV, a club from the Lower Rhine regional association, was preferred. In the Oberliga Nord, the selection of Eintracht Braunschweig as the third northern representative was controversial, as Hannover 96, among others, had more points in the twelve-year ranking and scored better in the technical requirements. FC Bayern München and Kickers Offenbach, who finished ahead of the two Munich clubs in the twelve-year rankings, were not considered for the Oberliga Süd, as TSV 1860 München qualified directly as league champions.
The following 16 clubs thus formed the founding members of the Bundesliga:
- From the Oberliga Nord: Eintracht Braunschweig, Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV
- From the Oberliga West: Borussia Dortmund, 1. FC Köln, Meidericher SV, Preußen Münster, FC Schalke 04
- From the Oberliga Südwest: 1. FC Kaiserslautern, 1. FC Saarbrücken
- From the Oberliga Süd: Eintracht Frankfurt, Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Nürnberg, TSV 1860 München, VfB Stuttgart
- From the city league Berlin: Hertha BSC
Of these 16 clubs, only Hamburger SV belonged to the top division for 55 seasons without interruption (first relegation in the 2017/18 season). Previously, the three founding members with the next longest uninterrupted affiliation had already been relegated for the first time in the 1997/98 season with 1. FC Köln (35 seasons) and in the 1995/96 season with Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (both 33 seasons). Currently (as of the 2020/21 season)[obsolete], seven of the 16 founding members are back in the Bundesliga.
The first statute: No professional football yet (1963)
The Bundesliga was new territory not only because it was the first time that the DFB had a national league for its entire territory. It was also accompanied by the Bundesliga statutes, adopted by the DFB advisory board on October 6, 1962, which distinguished between licensed and contracted players, without yet permitting unlimited fully professional football. Rather, a number of restrictions from the Oberliga era remained in place for the time being, including the cap on players' salaries ("as a rule" a maximum of DM 1,200 per month, § 18) and transfer fees (a maximum of DM 50,000, § 21). Here, only higher limits were set than previously in the Oberliga.
The DFB took a qualitative step with the licensed player in that, unlike the contract player, he no longer had to prove that he had a "bourgeois" (or proletarian) livelihood or anything comparable, but as an employee of his club had certain employee rights and could sue for them if necessary (§ 29). One of the consequences of this was that it was no longer possible for the releasing club to refuse to release the player without good reason when his contract expired, even if the burden of proof still lay with the player in the event of a dispute. The first precedent was set by Uwe Klimaschefski, who had to be released by regional league club Bayer 04 Leverkusen to play for Bundesliga club Hertha BSC following a decision by the Bundesliga Committee.
On the other hand, the "three-man clause" was still in force until 1967, according to which "no more than three players from foreign clubs" could be newly signed per club and season, and even then only during a four-week window in the summer break. Furthermore, all player licences lapsed "without prior notice in the event of relegation of the club concerned or loss of the licence granted to the club". In the interplay of both provisions, Schalke 04 was initially left with only twelve players in 1965 after its (supposed) relegation (nine previous and three permitted new arrivals), but was able to take advantage of a hardship clause. In addition, "club-owned" amateurs or A-youth players did not fall under the quota.
An extension of the transfer period, so that the squad of players could also be readjusted in the current season, was not to come about until 1972/73. There were no exceptions until then; for example, 1. FC Köln was unable to compensate for its permanently injured goalkeeper Milutin Šoškić with a new signing in 1968/69.
Founding years (1963-1968)
| Season | | German Champion (ges. /BL) |
| 1963/64 | | 1. FC Cologne (2/1) |
| 1964/65 | | Werder Bremen |
| 1965/66 | | TSV 1860 Munich |
| 1966/67 | | Eintracht Brunswick |
| 1967/68 | | 1. FC Nuremberg (9/1) |
| 1968/69 | | FC Bayern Munich (2/1) |
| 1969/70 | | Borussia Mönchengladbach |
| 1970/71 | | Borussia Mönchengladbach (2) |
| 1971/72 | | FC Bayern Munich (3/2) |
| 1972/73 | | FC Bayern Munich (4/3) |
| 1973/74 | | FC Bayern Munich (5/4) |
| 1974/75 | | Borussia Mönchengladbach (3) |
| 1975/76 | | Borussia Mönchengladbach (4) |
| 1976/77 | | Borussia Mönchengladbach (5) |
| 1977/78 | | 1. FC Cologne (3/2) |
| 1978/79 | | Hamburger SV (4/1) |
| 1979/80 | | FC Bayern Munich (6/5) |
| 1980/81 | | FC Bayern Munich (7/6) |
| 1981/82 | | Hamburger SV (5/2) |
| 1982/83 | | Hamburger SV (6/3) |
| 1983/84 | | VfB Stuttgart (3/1) |
| 1984/85 | | FC Bayern Munich (8/7) |
| 1985/86 | | FC Bayern Munich (9/8) |
| 1986/87 | | FC Bayern Munich (10/9) |
| 1987/88 | | Werder Bremen (2) |
| 1988/89 | | FC Bayern Munich (11/10) |
| 1989/90 | | FC Bayern Munich (12/11) |
| 1990/91 | | 1. FC Kaiserslautern (3/1) |
| 1991/92 | | VfB Stuttgart (4/2) |
| 1992/93 | | Werder Bremen (3) |
| 1993/94 | | FC Bayern Munich (13/12) |
| 1994/95 | | Borussia Dortmund (4/1) |
| 1995/96 | | Borussia Dortmund (5/2) |
| 1996/97 | | FC Bayern Munich (14/13) |
| 1997/98 | | 1. FC Kaiserslautern (4/2) |
| 1998/99 | | FC Bayern Munich (15/14) |
| 1999/00 | | FC Bayern Munich (16/15) |
| 2000/01 | | FC Bayern Munich (17/16) |
| 2001/02 | | Borussia Dortmund (6/3) |
| 2002/03 | | FC Bayern Munich (18/17) |
| 2003/04 | | Werder Bremen (4) |
| 2004/05 | | FC Bayern Munich (19/18) |
| 2005/06 | | FC Bayern Munich (20/19) |
| 2006/07 | | VfB Stuttgart (5/3) |
| 2007/08 | | FC Bayern Munich (21/20) |
| 2008/09 | | VfL Wolfsburg |
| 2009/10 | | FC Bayern Munich (22/21) |
| 2010/11 | | Borussia Dortmund (7/4) |
| 2011/12 | | Borussia Dortmund (8/5) |
| 2012/13 | | FC Bayern Munich (23/22) |
| 2013/14 | | FC Bayern Munich (24/23) |
| 2014/15 | | FC Bayern Munich (25/24) |
| 2015/16 | | FC Bayern Munich (26/25) |
| 2016/17 | | FC Bayern Munich (27/26) |
| 2017/18 | | FC Bayern Munich (28/27) |
| 2018/19 | | FC Bayern Munich (29/28) |
| 2019/20 | | FC Bayern Munich (30/29) |
| 2020/21 | | FC Bayern Munich (31/30) |
The first matchday of the first Bundesliga season was 24 August 1963. Timo Konietzka of Borussia Dortmund scored the first Bundesliga goal after just 58 seconds in the match against Werder Bremen. 327,000 spectators watched the eight matches of the first matchday in the stadiums. 1. FC Köln, which was already professionally managed at the time, won its first Bundesliga championship in superior fashion with only two defeats and a six-point lead over Meidericher SV.
In the following season, the league experienced its first major crisis. Hertha BSC's license was revoked due to overpayments to players, and the club was relegated to the then second-tier Regionalliga. The two clubs that were relegated, Karlsruher SC and FC Schalke 04, then claimed the place vacated by the forced relegation for themselves (unlike today, there was no clear regulation for such cases) and appealed against their own relegation. After some back and forth - for example a qualifying round with four teams was started and cancelled again - the number of clubs was increased to 18, so that both "actual" relegated teams could stay in the league. The DFB decided to include an additional Berlin club. There were political overtones to this decision, as all federal governments since 1949 had emphasised that the three western sectors of Berlin were firmly linked to the Federal Republic. As a replacement for Hertha BSC, the previous year's champion and third-placed team in the Berlin regional league, Tasmania Berlin, was admitted to the Bundesliga without any current sporting qualification, after the regional league champions Tennis Borussia had failed in the promotion round to the Bundesliga and second-placed Spandauer SV had waived promotion. "Tas" justified its own claim by saying that it should have been nominated as Berlin's legitimate representative back in 1963.
Despite a win to start the season, Tasmania were relegated after just one season in 1966 as the worst team in Bundesliga history, setting seven negative records that are still valid 54 years later: lowest number of goals scored (15) and highest number of goals conceded (108), fewest plus points (8), fewest wins (2), most defeats (28), fewest spectators for a game (827) and longest winless streak (31 consecutive games). In the same year, Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Bayern München, two clubs had been promoted and after a few years dominated the Bundesliga for a longer period of time. Until 1970, a different club was champion every year. With 1. FC Nuremberg, a reigning champion was relegated for the first and so far only time in 1969.
In the European Champion Clubs' Cup, the first Bundesliga champions were eliminated at the quarter-final stage at the latest, although on the one hand EintrachtFrankfurt (1960) had reached the final and Hamburger SV (1961) and Borussia Dortmund (1964) the semi-finals in previous years, and on the other hand the cup winners had been very successful in the European Cup Winners' Cup. In the Fairs Cup, the official predecessor of the UEFA Cup, only 1. FC Köln in 1964 and Eintracht Frankfurt in 1967 reached the semi-finals.
Bayern Munich v Borussia Mönchengladbach (1969-1978)
In the early 1970s, the league was rocked by the Bundesliga scandal exposed on 6 June 1971 by Horst-Gregorio Canellas, the president of Offenbacher Kickers. Due to manipulation in point matches in the relegation battle, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Arminia Bielefeld had managed to remain in the Bundesliga. During the investigations conducted by the DFB chief prosecutor Hans Kindermann, it was discovered that 18 matches from the last eight match days in the 1970/71 season were demonstrably sold or manipulated. A total of 52 players, two coaches and six club officials were punished. In addition, the Bundesliga licenses of the clubs Arminia Bielefeld and Kickers Offenbach were revoked.
Subsequently, football lost its credibility. The spectators punished the clubs with their abstinence. The number of spectators had already been in continuous decline since 1965/66, but fell particularly drastically from 6.3 million in the 1970/71 season to 5.4 million in 1971/72 and to the absolute low point in 1972/73 with only five million with an average of 16,372 spectators per game. In addition to the scandal, other reasons for the drop in attendance were also intensively discussed at the time, including the lack of comfort in the stadiums and the increase in television coverage. It was not until the 1974 World Cup, for which many stadiums were converted, extended or rebuilt, and above all because it was won, that the reputation and attendance figures rose again. In addition, the Bundesliga teams were also very successful internationally. By 1972, the last restrictions on salaries and transfer fees had been lifted, allowing professional football, which had already existed in other countries for decades, to develop to its full potential.
Borussia Mönchengladbach was the first club to successfully defend the German Bundesliga championship (1970/71). In the six seasons after that, first Bayern Munich (1972-1974) and then Mönchengladbach (1975-1977) achieved the "title hat-trick", which only Bayern Munich (1985-1987, 1999-2001 and 2013-2015) could repeat. In total, one of the two clubs won the championship nine seasons in a row. Borussia Mönchengladbach, however, had to repeatedly sell top performers abroad due to the smaller spectator capacity of its own stadium, in contrast to its Bavarian rival, which had moved to the new Olympic Stadium after the 1972 Olympic Games. Thus, by the end of the 1970s, they were no longer competitive. While the 1977 championship title was the last so far for Mönchengladbach and the team was even relegated in 1999 and 2007, Bayern Munich was able to further extend its dominance in the following years.
Borussia Mönchengladbach achieved the highest victory in Bundesliga history on 29 April 1978, beating Borussia Dortmund 12-0.
In 1976, a transfer fee of one million DM was paid for the first time when 1. FC Köln signed Roger Van Gool. In the following years, both the transfer fees and the players' salaries continued to rise very strongly.
Internationally, the 1970s were the most successful decade for Bundesliga clubs. In every year at least one club reached a semi-final, three times the European Champion Clubs' Cup (Bayern Munich 1974, 1975 and 1976), once the European Cup Winners' Cup (Hamburger SV 1977) and three times the UEFA Cup (Borussia Mönchengladbach 1975 and 1979, Eintracht Frankfurt 1980). In addition, the final was reached once more in each competition. In 1980, all teams in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup came from the Bundesliga, something that no association has ever achieved again.
North against South (1979-1990)
In the 1980s, the number of spectators in the Bundesliga stadiums fell again. This was due, among other things, to the fact that several German stars moved to foreign clubs. The most spectacular transfer at this time was Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's move from Bayern Munich to Inter Milan, for which more than DM 10 million was paid for the first time. Due to the successes of Boris Becker and Steffi Graf, media spectator interest shifted to tennis. Although the national team reached the World Cup finals in both 1982 and 1986, their performances were less attractive. In order to counteract the lack of spectators due to bad weather conditions and because the courts were often unplayable in the winter months, the winter break was extended to eight weeks in 1986.
In sporting terms, Hamburger SV, with players led by Horst Hrubesch, Manfred Kaltz and Felix Magath, had already risen to become Bayern Munich's main rival by the end of the 1970s. HSV's first title in 1979 was followed by two more German championships under coach Ernst Happel in 1982 and 1983. The Hamburgers did not manage the title hat trick, as they were only runners-up behind VfB Stuttgart in the 1983/84 season.
But FC Bayern München had also coped well with the departure of the players who had excelled in the 1970s and were able to continue their past successes in the new decade. From the mid-1980s, however, they had to contend with a new opponent from the north in the form of Werder Bremen. The Bremen side, coached by Otto Rehhagel, had been one of the league's "cellar children" in the 1970s and had even been in the second division in the 1980/81 season, but immediately after being promoted again they steadily established themselves in the top third of the table. FC Bayern München, however, extended their dominance and, by winning their ninth and tenth German championships in 1986 and 1987, replaced the previous record holder, 1. FC Nürnberg, with its nine championships won (eight of which came before the introduction of the Bundesliga). However, the duel with the Bremen side continued for a few more years. After narrowly failing to win in 1985 and 1986, Werder Bremen won the championship for the second time in 1988 and remained strong in the following years.
In the 1980s, German clubs reached the final of the European Champion Clubs' Cup four times each (one victory, Hamburger SV in 1983) and the final of the UEFA Cup (two victories, Eintracht Frankfurt in 1980 after the all-German semi-final and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 1988). Even though, with the exception of 1984, at least one Bundesliga club always reached the semi-finals of a European competition, the successes of the 1970s could not be repeated.
Reunification and commercialisation (1991-1999)
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Bundesliga has enjoyed growing popularity again. On the one hand, this is attributed to the sporting success of the national team (third World Cup title in 1990 and third European Championship title in 1996), and on the other hand, the Bundesliga was specifically marketed in the media. From 1991, Premiere reported live from the league's matches, and a year later Sat.1 took over the television broadcasting rights for Saturday evenings with ran - Sat.1 Bundesliga.
In 1991, the German Football Association of the GDR (DFV) joined the DFB. With the alignment of the East German league system to the West German game, FC Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden from the GDR-Oberliga were admitted to the Bundesliga. The league therefore temporarily played with 20 clubs in 1991/92, four of which were relegated. The first all-German champion after the end of the Second World War was VfB Stuttgart, who only managed to move ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund on the last matchday.
The sporting competition in the league was much more balanced than in previous years. Five clubs won the championship in this decade. Borussia Dortmund was able to use the income from the European Cup to bring players such as Jürgen Kohler, Stefan Reuter and Andreas Möller back to the Bundesliga from abroad and thus rose to become one of FC Bayern Munich's main competitors in the mid-1990s.
Bundesliga clubs also reached at least one European semi-final every year in the 1990s. Borussia Dortmund won the Champions League in 1997, Bayern Munich (1996) and Schalke 04 (1997) were victorious in the UEFA Cup and Werder Bremen were successful in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1992. In addition, a Bundesliga team reached the final one more time in each competition.
Karlsruher SC, SC Freiburg and VfL Wolfsburg qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their Bundesliga history, with KSC making it to the semi-finals in 1994. On the other hand, traditional clubs such as Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and 1. FC Köln were relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga for the first time after many years in the league. In 1998, 1. FC Kaiserslautern became the first team to win the German championship immediately after promotion.
"Vizekusen" and football boom (2000-2008)
Since 2000, Bayern Munich has won 13 league titles. The other title winners were Borussia Dortmund in 2002, 2011 and 2012, Werder Bremen in 2004, VfB Stuttgart in 2007 and VfLWolfsburg for the first time in 2009.
The championship was decided six times on the last matchday. In 2000, Bayer 04 Leverkusen would have been content with a draw at SpVgg Unterhaching, who had already been rescued, but the 2-0 defeat meant that Bayern Munich still pulled ahead. The championship decision was even more dramatic a year later, when FC Schalke 04 thought they were already German champions after their game ended successfully, but Bayern Munich scored the goal they needed in injury time to defend their title. Schalke received the title "Champion of Hearts" from its fans for this.
On August 24, 2003, the Bundesliga celebrated its 40th birthday with a match between "Bundesliga dinosaur" Hamburger SV and Bundesliga record champions FC Bayern Munich to kick off the 2003/04 season. In 2004, the DFL introduced championship stars for championship titles achieved within the Bundesliga.
In January 2005, the football betting scandal triggered by referee Robert Hoyzer shocked the league. However, this only affected matches in the 2nd Bundesliga, the DFB Cup and the regional league. As a result of the scandal, the DFB and DFL installed an early warning system that will indicate unusual bets in the future.
Despite this, viewer numbers continued to rise to new all-time highs. The 306 matches of the 2004/05 season were attended by over 11.56 million spectators (average 37,781), which is significantly higher than the spectator figures in Spain, Italy or England. The highest average number of spectators in Europe was achieved by Borussia Dortmund with 77,235 spectators per match. The increase in spectator numbers can be explained by the many stadiums newly built or modernised for the 2006 World Cup and a general increase in interest in football. In addition, a different clientele is being targeted through the construction of business boxes in the stadiums. The proportion of female spectators also increased.
Immediately after the turn of the millennium, German clubs reached the final of the Champions League twice more (Bayern Munich as winners in 2001 and Bayer Leverkusen in 2002) and the final of the UEFA Cup once more (Borussia Dortmund in 2002). Bayern Munich's Champions League victory in 2001 was the last time a German team won a European Cup competition for the next twelve years.
European Top League (2009-2013)
The creeping decline of the Bundesliga's international class in the early 2000s was also accompanied by an interim slide in the UEFA five-year rankings. The league lost several places, slipped out of the top three and thus lost a starting place in the Champions League. After even being as low as fifth place for a short time, it regained third place at the end of the 2010/11 season and has been playing for four Champions League starting spots again since the 2011/12 season. At times, the Bundesliga is a top European league; this phase culminates in the 2013 Champions League final.
In 2008/09, Hamburger SV and SV Werder Bremen met in the UEFA Cup semi-finals. SV Werder came out on top and became the first German team to reach the final of a European club competition since 2002. In 2010, Bayern Munich reached the semi-finals and also the final of the Champions League for the first time since 2002. In the final, the Munich team lost 0:2 to Inter Milan. Two years later, FC Bayern again reached the final of the Champions League, which they lost at their own stadium against Chelsea FC. In the 2012/13 season, a total of seven German teams reached the group stage in both competitions. All of them made it to the knockout rounds of the European Cup, which is a historic record. In addition, the 2013 Champions League final was an all-German clash between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, the second since the 1979/80 UEFA Cup final. Bayern Munich won the final 2-1 to become Germany's first European Cup winners since 2001.
With the start of the 2010/11 seasons, a uniform match ball was introduced in the Bundesliga, the "Torfabrik" by Adidas; since 2018/19, the "Brillant APS" by Derbystar has been used.
Dominance of FC Bayern Munich (since 2013)
Since 2013, FC Bayern München has set itself apart from all other clubs in the Bundesliga with unprecedented dominance. From that year onwards, only FC Bayern München became German football champions. With the three consecutive title wins in 2014, 2015 and 2016, Pep Guardiola rose to become the most successful foreign Bundesliga coach. At the same time, this was also the first time in the history of the Bundesliga that a club was able to win four titles in a row. In 2020, FC Bayern München celebrated its eighth consecutive championship. During these eight seasons, FC Bayern earned a total of 115 points more than the respective runner-up in the table (average: 14.4 points advantage per season). FC Bayern finished the 2019/20 season with the record of the best second half of the season ever. With 16 wins and one draw, as well as the best goal ratio of 54:10, the team did not suffer a defeat. Such a quota, with a goal ratio that was, however, one goal worse against, had only ever been achieved once before (then also by FC Bayern, in 2012/13). In the national press, the Bundesliga is therefore often described as monotonous or even boring.
In an international comparison, however, the Bundesliga falls behind again. The top leagues in Spain and England in particular lead the UEFA five-year rankings by a wide margin ahead of the Bundesliga. German teams now play only a minor role in European cup competitions. In the 2016/17 season, no German club team reached the semi-finals of a European Cup competition for the first time since the 2004/05 season.
Since the start of the 2015/16 season, goal-line technology has been used in the Bundesliga to automatically signal to the referee when a goal has been scored in regulation. In December 2014, it was decided to use the Hawk-Eye camera technology. The video assistant was introduced for the 2017/18 season and was used for the first time on 22 August 2017.
As a result of the global COVID 19 pandemic, various innovations and adjustments were decided at a DFL general meeting at the beginning of April 2020 that apply to the two Bundesligen. For example, the application to open insolvency proceedings within the 2019/20 season would no longer have resulted in the deduction of nine points, as before, but only three. In addition, the review of the liquidity situation was temporarily suspended as part of the licensing procedure for the 2020/21 season; however, the economic performance of the clubs will be reviewed as early as September 2020, and any liquidity gaps will then be punished with restrictions on transfer activities. In addition, the previous minimum age for the granting of a player permit in both Bundesliga leagues was reduced from 17 to 16 for the 2020/21 season. Furthermore, concepts for holding ghost matches have been drawn up in order to enable matches to be played without spectators and with the lowest possible number of staff. As part of the resumption of match operations on 16 May, an increase in the substitution quota to up to five players who can be substituted within three time slots took place. This arrangement has been extended to the 2020/21 season.
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