The atmosphere is passionate, the stands are full, the grass is green and the matches are exciting. Those are the attractive features of the Premier League and…the German Second Division.

Last February, precisely in round 22 of the Bundesliga, an unprecedented phenomenon happened in German football. The German Second Division (commonly known as 2.Bundesliga) has surpassed the Bundesliga for the first time in history in terms of average number of spectators attending the stadium in a round.

Two weeks later the miracle repeated. Round 24 of the Bundesliga only had an average of 27,883 spectators/match while the German Second Division welcomed 33,983 people/match. The attraction of traditional names such as Schalke, Hertha Berlin, Nurnberg or Saint-Pauli has heated up the 2.Bundesliga, creating an even stronger effect than the matches of Bayern and Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

At the end of March, when the German Second Division just reached round 27, a record of 6,995,216 spectators came to the stadium. This is an unprecedented number of spectators in a 2.Bundesliga season. And up to now, the record has been raised to 7,282,976 spectators.

The German Second Division does not lack hot matches, typically the encounter between Hertha Berlin and Hansa Rostock tonight in round 29. Olympiastadion’s 75,000 seats will be filled when tickets are sold out three days before the match. match takes place.

In the history of the German Second Division, “tradition-rich clubs” (“Traditionsverein”) have always attracted a large number of fans. Schalke this season welcomed an average of 61,442 spectators per match, Hamburg was equally crowded with 55,737, Hertha Berlin was 48,339. These are three teams with a tradition of poor management leading to relegation to the Second Division.

But looking from the stands, Germans are still crazy about Schalke or Hamburg. Slightly less attractive are Fortuna Dusseldorf, Kaiserslautern or Hannover 96 which also have an average audience of about 40,000 people per match.

In the first season competing under a single ranking format, the German Second Division only welcomed an average of 5,600 spectators/match in the 1992/93 season. But the strong development of the 2.Bundesliga over the past three decades has made Germans extremely proud. Sky Germany station confidently considers the 2.Bundesliga “the most attractive Second Division in the world”.

Since the 2004/05 season, the German Second Division has never dropped below 10,000 spectators per match. With an average audience this season of up to 28,902 people/match, 2.Bundesliga even surpasses Ligue 1 (26,842) and is only behind the remaining 4 top championships.

The stadium occupancy rate of the German Second Division also reached 83.1%, ranking third only after the Premier League (96.9%), Bundesliga (96%) and the Dutch Eredivisie (90.2%). .

What is the reason why the German Second Division attracts so many spectators? According to L’Equipe, one of the reasons is… the declining performance of the German national team. German audiences became indifferent to the national team and went to stadiums every weekend to satisfy their thirst for football.

A favorable match time also creates conditions for a large number of spectators to come to the stadium. Up to 6/9 matches of each round take place in the early afternoon, an ideal time for families to go watch football together. In October last year, Fortuna Dusseldorf (currently ranked 3rd on the rankings) also offered free tickets at home matches, opening up a wave of “imitation” in other clubs.

But above all, Germans’ love of football is very admirable, especially when it does not depend on the national team’s achievements.

Top 6 championships with the most spectators in Europe this season: 1. Bundesliga: 39,238 people/match 2. Premier League: 38,288 people/match 3. Serie A: 30,838 people/match 4. La Liga: 29,123 people/match 5. 2.Bundesliga: 28,902 people/match 6. Ligue 1: 26,842 people/match