Over the past five years, average attendances in the Bundesliga have been recorded at a respectable 30 000, but crowds have soared since the introduction of World Cup stadiums last season.
Many believe fans are pouring through the turnstiles because they are gripped by 2006 World Cup fever. Would this be the case if, say, England were hosting the tournament?
The opening weekend of the 2005/06 Bundesliga season witnessed a new record average attendance of 43 503, with an impressive 391 527 fans packing into the nine stadiums to beat the previous best average of 40 944 set way back in 1965.
A bumper 81 200 watched Borussia Dortmund fall 2-1 to derby rivals Schalke 04 at the Westfalen Stadium on Saturday.
Dortmund have the highest average attendance in Europe, several thousand better than Spanish titans Real Madrid and Barcelona, and other host cities for the 2006 World Cup are not far behind.
Bayern Munich’s €340-million Allianz Arena enjoyed a capacity 66 000 crowd for the club’s opening 3-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach a fortnight ago.
Admittedly the excitement of experiencing the atmosphere at the new Arena is a major attraction, but maybe there is another reason why German stadiums are full — affordability.
In England, for example, a season ticket to watch promoted Sunderland in the Premier League will set a fan back £360 (R4 180) but newly promoted German side Eintracht Frankfurt charge less than a third of the price at €150 (R1 180).
Despite the city being a financial metropolis, tickets are affordable in Frankfurt and crowds of 42 000 are the norm.
Considering European champions Liverpool have average gates of 42 580 at Anfield, that is no mean feat.
Obviously Germany has a population of 82-million compared with England’s 49,7-million inhabitants, but the ticket prices can not be overlooked.
Don Foster MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for culture, media and sport, recently criticised the exorbitant prices in the English Premiership following some detailed research.
Arsenal, champions two seasons ago, were discovered to have the most expensive season tickets in England and Europe at a whopping £885 (R10 290).
In contrast, German champions Bayern offer season tickets for a fifth of the price at £174 (R2 020).
They are not alone in their price policy, with Schalke 04 asking £131 (R1 520) for a season ticket.
In Germany, it seems younger people and the working classes can afford to watch their local club and ensure the stadiums are full.
”The atmosphere at the World Cup stadiums, and indeed Germany as a whole, is something special,” explained Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann. ”You can sense that there is big tournament just around the corner.”
If the atmosphere in the Bundesliga is mirrored in the 2006 World Cup, running from June 9 to July 9, players and fans can look forward to a football fest.
But it is worth remembering that World Cup tickets will be far from cheap and black-market prices already range from €35 to €600 (R277 to R4 758) on auction site Ebay. — Sapa-AFP