Serie A vs Bundesliga: Which is the better football league and why?

Serie A vs Bundesliga: Which is the better football league and why?

Helix Odhiambo
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:14 PM

The Serie A vs Bundesliga comparison is one of the most discussed topics in football. It is an interesting debate that has brought fans together to discuss and share their diverse opinions on the two leagues. Read on to discover which one is better based on different aspects keenly analyzed here.

Serie A vs Bundesliga
The Serie A and Bundesliga leagues are hosts to top European clubs, but which league is the best? Photo: Alex Gottschalk, Nicolò Campo, Simone Arveda, Maja Hitij
Source: Getty Images

Serie A (The Scudetto) and Bundesliga are two of the most followed leagues globally, alongside the Premier League and La Liga. The levels of competition in these tournaments make them attractive and interesting to watch.

Serie A vs Bundesliga: Which is better?

Both competitions have produced very talented footballers and attracted large viewership globally. Serie A is the top-tier league in Italy, while the Bundesliga is the top-tier league in Germany. To understand which league is better, let us break down how they compare based on the formats, trophies won, revenue generated, football stars, and net worth, among other aspects.

Format

The Bundesliga is the only competition among the top 5 leagues in Europe with 18 teams. Each team plays 17 games. Every season, the bottom two teams get relegated, and the top 2 teams from the second tier, Bundesliga 2, earn promotion.

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Elsewhere, like other European outfits, the Scudetto has 20 clubs competing for the title. Three teams get relegated every season, creating room for the other three from Serie B.

Is Bundesliga a farmer's league?

Serie A vs Bundesliga stars
Bayern Munich players celebrate with the fans after winning against Sport-Club Freiburg at Allianz Arena on 16th October 2022, in Munich, Germany. Photo: Stefan Matzke
Source: Getty Images

Over the years, Bayern Munich has dominated the top tier, casting doubt on the competition's standards. The Bavarians won their 10th consecutive league title in April 2022, while other top teams like Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Bayer 04 Leverkusen remain in their shadows.

In Italy, three teams have won the league in the past ten years. Juventus have bagged it eight times, while AC Milan and Inter Milan have won it once each.

Serie A vs Bundesliga viewership

Is Serie A any good? According to sources, the Italian top flight has more average views than the German set-up. Serie A enjoys 24.7k average viewers from the stadiums and from over 2m households. Bundesliga averages 43,458 stadium attendance, and over 1.7m households reached.

Serie A vs Bundesliga revenue

How does Serie A vs Bundesliga net worth compare? The German top tier recorded around $2.96 million in revenue during the 2020-21 season. Meanwhile, the Scudetto managed around $2.47 million. Premier League recorded the highest revenue of $5.4 million.

Serie A vs Bundesliga TV rights

Serie A vs Bundesliga TV rights
A TV camera photographed during the Scudetto football match between FC Internazionale and SS Lazio. FC Internazionale won 3-1 over SS Lazio. Photo: Nicolò Campo
Source: Getty Images

Bundesliga enjoys more value from TV rights (local and international). Their broadcasting revenue is projected to be $5.9 billion in the 2022-23 season. However, the Scudetto is expected to make $2.37 billion.

Serie A vs Bundesliga stars

Germany lost Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland a year after Italy lost Cristiano Ronaldo, but the two leagues are not short of talent. They have invested in young and promising footballers with bright futures.

Dušan Vlahović of Juventus is the highly-valued player in Italy's top flight, while Jude Bellingham tops the market value chat in Germany. Series A's total market value is $4.6 billion, while Bundesliga has a $4 billion valuation.

Bundesliga

Serie A

Jude Bellingham (88.8 million)

Dušan Vlahović (83.8 million)

Christopher Nkunku (78.9 million)

Lautaro Martínez (73.9 million)

Joshua Kimmich (78.9 million)

Romelu Lukaku (69 million)

Jamal Musiala (78.9 million)

Nicolò Barella (69 million)

Florian Wirtz (69 million)

Rafael Leão (69 million)

Alphonso Davies (69 million)

Milan Skriniar (64.1 million)

Matthijs de Ligt (69 million)

Federico Chiesa (64.1 million)

Leon Goretzka (64.1 million)

Victor Osimhen (64.1 million)

Serge Gnabry (64.1 million)

Alessandro Bastoni (59.2 million)

Moussa Diaby (59.2 million)

Sergej Milinković-Savić (59.2 million)

Squad policy

In Germany, it is recommended that each club must have a minimum of 12 German players under contract. Each team must also not have more than five non-EU representatives. Meanwhile, in Italy, clubs can register a maximum of 25 players in a season. Four players must be home-grown, while four must be from the club's youth academy.

Serie A vs Bundesliga style

Italian football primarily focuses on combative tactics and staying tight at the back. Generally, its teams concede fewer goals because of this kind of football. In Germany, it is more of attacking football and building from the back. It is the European league with the highest goals-per-game average.

Serie A vs Bundesliga head-to-head policy

Serie A vs Bundesliga, which is better?
The Serie A and Bundesliga leagues use different criteria when teams tie on points. Photo: Marco Canoniero, Christian Charisius
Source: Getty Images

The two leagues use different tie-breakers when teams tie on point at the end of the season. Serie A uses head-to-head points as the first determinant, then goal difference. It factors in goal difference first before narrowing down to the head-to-head results.

Which league is better?

The Bundesliga teams have battled with the Italian clubs in the Champions League and Europa League. It has also recorded higher revenue. Therefore, the German league has a slight edge over Serie A.

The Serie A vs Bundesliga comparison will continue attracting debates and discussions among fans. Besides the differences, both leagues remain among the top European club competitions that many fans look forward to watching.

READ ALSO: Which is the best football league in Africa, and why is it the best?

Sportsbrief.com also published an article about the best football league in Africa and some of the clubs playing in the competition. Some of the talented figures in Europe's elite premierships were great players in the African championships before the biggest clubs in the world discovered them.

The best football league in Africa has the biggest talents and infrastructure on the continent. Follow the above link to get more insights about the continent's finest league competition.

Authors
Helix Odhiambo photo
Helix Odhiambo
Helix Odhiambo is an award-winning Kenyan journalist and content creator with over 6 years of experience. In 2016, he won the Goal Blaze Correspondent Award for young writers.