Covid costs Bundesliga one billion euros over two seasons

The new head of the Bundesliga on Friday revealed a drop in total revenue of more than one billion euros for the two seasons disrupted by the Covid pandemic.

According to figures released by the German Football League (DFL), revenue fell from 4.8 billion euros to 4.05 billion euros ($4.5 billion) for the 2020/21 season in Germany’s top two leagues.

“Covid has already had a drastic economic impact on the Bundesliga in the past two years,” said Donata Hopfen, the new CEO of the German league.

“In total, the downturn in revenue following the first two seasons impacted by the coronavirus, 2019-20 and 2020-21, was in excess of one billion euros.”

Bundesliga revenue is down by more than 750 million euros – almost 16 percent – compared to the league’s bumper record season of 2018-19.

According to the 2022 DFL Economic Report, match revenues alone – mainly ticket sales – fell by around 95 per cent from 650 million euros the previous season to 35.5 million euros.

Not all Bundesliga grounds have yet returned to full capacity, two years after the start of the pandemic.

The impact of games behind closed doors also affected jobs at stadiums across Germany, which were temporarily slashed from 52,786 in 2019/20 to 26,183 last season.

Despite the losses, the clubs in Germany’s top two leagues paid 1.3 billion euros in taxes and levies for the 2020/21 season, the league said.