German soccer’s top-flight Bundesliga has won a long-running legal battle against online ticket exchange platform Viagogo over unfair commercial practices in the unauthorized secondary ticketing market.
Following years of litigation through several courts, the Bundesliga’s claim against Viagogo was upheld entirely.
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The Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Munich found several of Viagogo’s commercial practices to be misleading and therefore in violation of German competition law.
Ahead of the 2019 Supercup, the Bundesliga (then operating as the DFL) warned fans against purchasing tickets on the unauthorized secondary market, particularly via the Viagogo platform. At the time, tickets for the match were already being advertised on the platform, even though official ticket sales had not yet begun.
Following the issuance of a formal cease-and-desist letter to Viagogo, the Bundesliga initiated legal proceedings.
After progressing through the courts up to the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof), the matter has now been concluded with a victory for the league through the present ruling of the Munich Higher Regional Court.
In the ruling, the judges stated that “buyers must be able to clearly and unambiguously determine whether tickets are in fact already available, what services are covered by any guarantee, and who is selling the tickets. Furthermore, platforms must not create artificial scarcity in order to pressure customers into making quick purchasing decisions.”
In recent months, several clubs have also achieved victories against Viagogo in similar proceedings, including Karlsruher SC, FC St. Pauli, and 1. FC Union Berlin. Bayern Munich have also obtained a favourable ruling against Viagogo in recent years.
Marc Lenz, Bundesliga chief executive, said: “This decision is an important success for protecting fans and ensuring a fair ticket market.
“It sends a clear message against questionable ticket offers and excessive prices. At the same time, it strengthens the official sales and resale platforms of Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs, where tickets are offered by fans for fans under fair and transparent conditions. The Bundesliga and its clubs will continue to take determined action against unauthorized ticket sales.”
Despite the positive court rulings in favour of the Bundesliga and its clubs, the league states that “significant transparency deficits continue to exist on many online marketplaces outside the official sales and resale platforms operated by Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs. In many cases, clear information regarding the original ticket price and the identity of sellers is lacking.”
In collaboration with the German Football Association (DFB), the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), the Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry (BDKV), the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, and the Bavarian Consumer Advice Centre, the Bundesliga has welcomed the more consumer-friendly regulation of the secondary ticketing market envisaged in the federal coalition agreement.
Proposed measures include the introduction of transparency requirements for online marketplaces, such as mandatory disclosure of the original ticket price, clear information requirements regarding the identity of all sellers, and effective safeguards against excessive and exploitative price markups.
In 2018, FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, claimed a victory over Switzerland-based Viagogo in a dispute over sales for that year’s World Cup in Russia, with a court in Germany barring the company from offering tickets to the event in the German market.
In the 2025-26 season, the Bundesliga and second-tier Bundesliga 2 set another record for ticket sales.
The 36 professional clubs sold a total of 21.4 million tickets. With an average of 34,974 tickets sold per match, German professional soccer consequently set a new record for average attendance.
The Bundesliga achieved ticket sales of 12.7 million. This corresponds to an average of 41,562 tickets per match and represents a 9% increase on the previous season.
The return of 1. FC Köln and Hamburger SV to the Bundesliga played a major part in this development. Both sides are traditionally among the clubs with the highest attendance figures in German soccer and have large stadium capacities.
The average attendance rate at Bundesliga stadiums, based on ticket sales, stood at 96.10%, slightly above the previous year’s high of 95.91%. A total of 16 out of the 18 Bundesliga clubs achieved an attendance rate of more than 90%.
In the Bundesliga 2, almost 8.7 million tickets were sold. The average was 28,386 tickets sold per match.
The average price of a ticket for a Bundesliga match was €30.77 in the 2025-26 season, slightly up from €28.78 in the previous year. In the Bundesliga 2, the average price was €24.34, slightly below the previous year’s figure of €24.70.
