How much does a referee earn in the Bundesliga?

Referees are an important part of a football game and are paid accordingly. But how much does a referee earn in the Bundesliga? SPOX answers this question for you.

There is probably no profession in sport that is criticized as often and severely as the referee. In football, the referee stands on the field alongside the 22 players from two teams for the same 90 minutes and ensures law and order together with the linesmen, the fourth official and the VAR referee.

Players and coaches often feel disadvantaged by the referee when the whistle is directed against them. Whether justified or not – there is always criticism. If the referee whistles once without making a mistake, it is often not recognized. Because of this, one might think that referees would make decent money as a form of compensation. But is this the case in the Bundesliga?

Referee salary: how much does a referee earn in the Bundesliga?

The salary of an arbitrator in Germany depends heavily on several factors. On the one hand, it is important in which division the referee whistles. Logically, you earn more in the Bundesliga than in the 2nd Bundesliga. After that, it has to be clarified how many games someone is in charge of. The following applies: the more games, the more money. The total payment consists of a fixed base salary and additional payments per refereed game.

Last but not least, of course, experience also influences the salary. A distinction is made between three levels of experience: referees with less than five years of Bundesliga experience, referees with more than five years of Bundesliga experience and FIFA referees.

How does all this look in concrete terms?

A Bundesliga 2 referee receives a basic annual salary of 40,000 euros. In the Bundesliga, the basic salary of referees with less than five years of Bundesliga experience is already 60,000 euros a year. Referees with more than five years of Bundesliga experience even get a basic annual salary of 70,000 euros, FIFA referees 80,000 euros.

The second part of the payment, the fee per match whistled, is the same for each league. In the Bundesliga you get 5,000 euros per game, in the 2nd Bundesliga 2,500 euros.

Compared to the other top leagues in Europe, Germany can not only keep up, but even offers more. In the Italian Serie A, the top elite gets 80,000 euros basic salary per season, the rest with 25 or more games 40,000 euros. 3,800 euros are offered per game in Italy.

In the Spanish Primera Division, the basic salary is 10,000 euros per month and the remuneration per game is 3,600 euros. In the English Premier League it is between 45,000 and 49,000 euros per season and an additional 1,300 euros per game.