Bundesliga (softball)

The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary football competition. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga. Seasons run from August to May. Games are played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. All of the Bundesliga clubs take part in the DFB-Pokal cup competition. The winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup.

Fifty-six clubs have competed in the Bundesliga since its founding. Bayern Munich has won 32 of 60 titles, as well as the last eleven seasons, which is a European record. The Bundesliga has also seen other champions, with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and VfB Stuttgart most prominent among them. The Bundesliga is one of the top national leagues, ranked third in Europe according to UEFA's league coefficient ranking for the current 2022–23 season, based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. The Bundesliga led the UEFA ranking from 1976 to 1984 and in 1990. It has also produced the continent's top-rated club seven times. Bundesliga clubs have won eight UEFA Champions League, seven UEFA Europa League, four European Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cup, two FIFA Club World Cup, and three Intercontinental Cup titles. Its players have accumulated nine Ballon d'Or awards, two The Best FIFA Men's Player awards, four European Golden Shoe, and three UEFA Men's Player of the Year awards including UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.

The Bundesliga is the number one association football league in the world in terms of average attendance; out of all sports, its average of 45,134 fans per game during the 2011–12 season was the second-highest of any sports league in the world after the American National Football League. The Bundesliga is broadcast on television in over 200 countries.

The Bundesliga was founded in 1962 in Dortmund and the first season started in 1963–64. The structure and organisation of the Bundesliga, along with Germany's other football leagues, have undergone frequent changes. The Bundesliga was founded by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (English: German Football Association), but is now operated by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (English: German Football League).

Structure

The Bundesliga is composed of two divisions: the 1. Bundesliga (although it is rarely referred to with the ''First'' prefix), and, below that, the 2. Bundesliga (2nd Bundesliga), which has been the second tier of German football since 1974. The Bundesligen (plural) are professional leagues. Since 2008, the 3. Liga (3rd League) in Germany has also been a professional league, but may not be called Bundesliga because the league is run by the German Football Association (DFB) and not, as are the two Bundesligen, by the German Football League (DFL).

Below the level of the 3. Liga, leagues are generally subdivided on a regional basis. For example, the Regionalligen are currently made up of Nord (North), Nordost (Northeast), Süd (South), Südwest (Southwest) and West divisions. Below this are thirteen parallel divisions, most of which are called Oberligen (upper leagues) which represent federal states or large urban and geographical areas. The levels below the Oberligen differ between the local areas. The league structure has changed frequently and typically reflects the degree of participation in the sport in various parts of the country. In the early 1990s, changes were driven by the reunification of Germany and the subsequent integration of the national league of East Germany.

Every team in the two Bundesligen must have a licence to play in the league, or else they are relegated into the regional leagues. To obtain a licence, teams must be financially healthy and meet certain standards of conduct as organisations.

As in other national leagues, there are significant benefits to being in the top division:
*A greater share of television broadcast licence revenues goes to 1. Bundesliga sides.
*1. Bundesliga teams draw significantly greater levels of fan support. Average attendance in the first league is 42,673 per game—more than twice the average of the 2. Bundesliga.
*Greater exposure through television and higher attendance levels helps 1. Bundesliga teams attract the most lucrative sponsorships.
*1. Bundesliga teams develop substantial financial muscle through the combination of television and gate revenues, sponsorships and marketing of their team brands. This allows them to attract and retain skilled players from domestic and international sources and to construct first-class stadium facilities.

The 1. Bundesliga is financially strong, and the 2. Bundesliga has begun to evolve in a similar direction, becoming more stable organizationally and financially, and reflecting an increasingly higher standard of professional play.

Internationally, the most well-known German clubs include Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04, RB Leipzig, Hamburger SV, VfB Stuttgart, 1. FC Köln, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen. Hamburger SV was the only club to have played continuously in the Bundesliga since its foundation, until 12 May 2018, when the club was relegated for the first time.

In the 2008–09 season, the Bundesliga reinstated an earlier German system of promotion and relegation, which had been in use from 1981 until 1991:
* The bottom two finishers in the Bundesliga are automatically relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, with the top two finishers in the 2. Bundesliga taking their places.
* The third-from-bottom club in the Bundesliga will play a two-legged tie with the third-place team from the 2. Bundesliga, with the winner taking up the final place in the following season's Bundesliga.

From 1992 until 2008, a different system was used, in which the bottom three finishers of the Bundesliga had been automatically relegated, to be replaced by the top three finishers in the 2. Bundesliga. From 1963 until 1981 two, or later three, teams had been relegated from the Bundesliga automatically, while promotion had been decided either completely or partially in promotion play-offs.

The season starts in early August and lasts until late May, with a winter break of six weeks (mid-December through to the end of January). Starting with the 2021–22 season, kick off times have been changed with Friday matches starting at 8:30 pm, Saturdays at 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm, and Sundays at 3:30 pm, 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm.

History

Origins

Before the formation of the Bundesliga, German football was played at an amateur level in a large number of sub-regional leagues until, in 1949, part-time (semi-) professionalism was introduced and only five regional ''Oberligen (Premier Leagues)'' remained. Regional champions and runners-up played a series of playoff matches for the right to compete in a final game for the national championship. On 28 January 1900, a national association, the Deutscher Fußball Bund (DFB) had been founded in Leipzig with 86 member clubs. The first recognised national championship team was VfB Leipzig

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