Toy brand Playmobil has been named as an official licensee of German soccer’s DFL body from the start of the 2026-27 top-flight Bundesliga season.
As part of the deal, the German company will present all 18 Bundesliga clubs in the form of its play figures. A total of 198 officially licensed characters – 11 per team – will be available from September 2026.
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An exclusive selection of six Bundesliga figures will be released as early as March 2026. The first edition will include players from selected Bundesliga clubs – such as Harry Kane, Mario Götze, Angelo Stiller, Julian Brandt, Luka Vušković, and Saïd El Mala.
The partnership with Playmobil, which is headquartered near Nuremberg, was coordinated by the Bundesliga International arm, in cooperation with IMG Licensing.
Playmobil board member Bahri Kurter has said: “The Bundesliga in particular has an extremely strong appeal in Germany. For Playmobil, entering the world of football is an important building block in our strategic development.
“This step creates additional relevance, brings us closer to new target groups, and leads the brand into an environment that excites millions.”
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By GlobalDataIn September, the DFL reorganized its corporate structure, centralizing domestic and international media rights, commercial partnerships, and other business activities under a new wholly owned subsidiary.
While the DFL's parent company (DFL GmbH) will continue to manage the top-level organizational functions of the league and its constituent clubs, the new subsidiary will encompass all media rights and digital coverage rights negotiations, commercial partnership deals, and marketing agreements.
The new unit is being led by Steffen Merkel, one of the DFL’s co-chief executives, while the other co-chief, Marc Lenz, will maintain a focus on DFL GmbH.
Furthermore, Peer Naubert, who leads the Bundesliga International subsidiary, and Bastian Zuber, head of the DFL Digital Sports business, will also contribute to the management of the new commercial unit.
