2. Bundesliga in Germany vs Championship in England – Who really has the strongest second tier in Europe’s top leagues? Event-breaks.com compared the two second divisions.
The 2. Bundesliga is often proudly touted by broadcasters as “The strongest 2nd league in the world.” That’s their prerogative.
We struggle with this claim, because the English Championship is tougher than any other second division in Europe.
Which is the best 2nd league in the world?
The road to the Premier League is a marathon.
24 teams, 46 matchdays plus Premier League playoff semi-finals (home and away legs) and of course the grand final at Wembley for the last Premier League ticket. You’ve got to get through that first.
The top two Championship clubs gain automatic promotion; four more teams still have a shot via the playoffs to reach the “land of the rich” (DIE WELT, 2005).
The 2. Bundesliga is a bit more modest. The top two teams are promoted directly to the Bundesliga. Since 2009, the third-placed team plays a two-legged relegation playoff against the third-last team in the top division.
2nd League England vs. Germany: Drama is inevitable
Drama is always part of the story – just ask SV Elversberg in 2025 (knocked out by 1. FC Heidenheim twelve seconds before the end of added time, 1:2 / first leg: 2:2) or Karlsruher SC in 2015. The team from Baden were seconds away from returning to the Bundesliga against HSV, until a free-kick from Marcelo Diaz forced extra time for Hamburg. I covered that game as a news editor and all I can say is: If you saw HSV officials Dietmar Beiersdorfer and Bruno Labbadia completely losing it – or the heartbroken KSC fans – you understand what a nerve-racking experience relegation playoffs are.
I felt the same this year with underdog Elversberg, or in 2024 with Fortuna Düsseldorf, who thought they were through after a 3:0 first-leg win over VfL Bochum…
In England, “The Million Game” – the promotion final at Wembley worth up to €250 million – provides the ultimate thrill.
In 2025, AFC Sunderland secured their Premier League spot deep into injury time.
What a thrilling final matchday in the English Championship 2024/2025: On May 3, 2025, Mihailo Ivanovic scores the 1:0 for FC Millwall at Premier League-bound FC Burnley. Photo: Imago Images / Nur Photo
“Drama is guaranteed because so much is at stake”
In 2022 and 2024, Nottingham Forest and FC Southampton managed to return to the English elite with the slimmest of margins. In 2017, Huddersfield Town with German coach David Wagner went to a penalty shootout against FC Reading – 5:4 (0:0 after extra time). It doesn’t get more intense than that.
“Drama is guaranteed in the Championship because so much is on the line,” wrote author Nige Tassell (The Hard Yards: A Season in the Championship, Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2021), who listed nine reasons in GQ why you simply have to love the Championship.
Among other things, he argues that the “Championship is no soap opera.” Tassell: “The Premier League is a goldfish bowl, where players are closely scrutinised on and off the pitch. Transfer rumours surround nearly every player. None of that nonsense exists in the second division – in the Championship, sleeves are rolled up and the talk happens on the pitch.”
He also believes you can spot tomorrow’s Premier League stars in the Championship. Ollie Watkins, England international and formerly of FC Brentford, is a prime example.
Also, football in the Championship means “Saturday at 3pm”, not the exotic kickoff times of the Premier League (including Monday evenings) or the 2. Bundesliga, which kicks off at noon and in prime time on Saturdays.
That says a lot about the Championship and its distinctive character – definitely a plus.
Popular football trips to the Championship in 2025/2026 lead to FC Millwall at “The Den”, the Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road and FC Watford at Vicarage Road – all three stadiums exude that classic English football charm, unbeatable proximity to the pitch from the front rows, and the occasional rough fan chants – classic working class.
Former top-tier clubs
Looking at the 24 teams aiming for promotion in 2025/2026, 19 of them have played in the Premier League since its inception in 1992.
The 2. Bundesliga has lost two of its biggest names – Hamburger SV and 1. FC Köln – due to promotion.
Their nationwide fanbases and pull will now shine again in the Bundesliga.
16 of the 18 clubs in the 2025/2026 season are former top-flight teams. Only Elversberg and 1. FC Magdeburg have never played in the top division. That gives the German 2nd division a clear edge in top-tier pedigree.
Former champions
Ten second division clubs won the championship either before the Bundesliga era began in 1963 (Hertha BSC, Düsseldorf, Fürth, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Hannover 96, Schalke 04) or since then (Eintracht Braunschweig, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and 1. FC Nürnberg).
Former Premier League champions in the Championship include only Blackburn Rovers (1995) and Leicester City (2016) – eight clubs (Preston North End, AFC Sunderland, Sheffield United and Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion, FC Portsmouth, Derby County and Ipswich Town) won the English league title in the Football League (until 1892) and Football League First Division. A draw!
The largest stadium in the 2. Bundesliga: At Berlin's Olympiastadion, home of Hertha BSC, the motto holds – as seen on April 25, 2025 against 1. FC Magdeburg (1:1): “We’re not going home.” Photo: Imago Images / Matthias Koch
Biggest stadiums
The Olympiastadion in Berlin and the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen boast capacities of over 74,000 and 62,000 respectively.
However, Hertha BSC’s home in Berlin’s Westend isn’t always sold out, despite an average attendance of 53,191 last season. More than 40,000 fans also flocked on average to the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in Kaiserslautern and the Merkur Spiel Arena in Düsseldorf.
No Championship stadium holds more than 49,000. The largest is Sunderland’s Stadium of Light (48,707), followed by Hillsborough Stadium (Sheffield Wednesday) and the Riverside Stadium (Middlesbrough). Here, the German 2nd division is clearly ahead.
In terms of atmosphere, the Championship makes up for its smaller capacities with authentic, traditional English football vibes – in Millwall, QPR’s Loftus Road, Norwich’s Carrow Road or Sheffield’s Bramall Lane, for example.
Attendance average
In the 2. Bundesliga, 9.44 million fans passed through the turnstiles last season. In England, that figure was 11.1 million.
Per match in 2024/2025, the German second division averaged 30,825 spectators, while the Championship drew 21,815 fans per game. Draw!
Spain’s La Liga 2 (13,283), Italy’s Serie B (9,584), and France’s Ligue 2 (7,386) are far behind these numbers.
TV money
According to Transfermarkt.de, Germany’s 18 second division clubs earned €243 million in TV money in 2024/2025 – equivalent to what BVB, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig received in the Bundesliga.
The EFL distributed between €11.16 and €14.6 million per club from national TV deals (Sky Sports UK), international rights, and Premier League solidarity payments – a total of €266 to €350 million – not even counting the “Million Game” promotion final.
Clear advantage: Championship!
Best 2nd league: Our conclusion
So which is the strongest second division? Very hard to say. “The Championship,” says Nige Tassell, “is the last bastion of great football traditions.” True. Football here is still wild, almost untamed – and fueled by massive TV revenue.
The 2. Bundesliga is certainly the “most decorated” second division in Europe. In its 50 years, it’s become a premium product, full of historic clubs and lovable underdogs.
The Championship, with its intensity, high-profile lineups, and storied stadiums, carries that unmistakable English magic – and is truly a league of its own.
Der Autor: Carsten Germann berichtet seit 2002 aus erster Hand über den englischen Fußball, u. a. für DIE WELT, BILD am SONNTAG und seit April 2021 auch als leitender Redakteur beim Portal Fussballdaten.de. Zudem gab er mit den Büchern Football’s home (2007) und Absolute Dynamite! (2010) zwei Sammelbände mit seinen Fußball-Reiseerlebnissen aus Großbritannien heraus. Für DIE FUSSBALLREISE schreibt er regelmäßig über den Insel-Kick.