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The Bundesliga has achieved a record turnover for the 10th year in a row, with numbers going up by 124.8 percent since 2004 and 13 of the 18 top-flight clubs posting a profit last season. On Thursday, the 18 Bundesliga clubs once again announced a new record, with their total turnover reaching 2.45 billion euros -- up by 12.9 percent from the previous season, and by 124.8 percent from 2004 -- when the league last failed to announce record numbers. Bundesliga 2 also announced a record turnover of 458 million euros, up by 9.2 percent from the previous season. Around 20 percent of the combined turnover was accumulated by champions Bayern Munich, who posted a turnover of 487.5 million euros according to the latest Deloitte ranking, which was also released on Thursday. Borussia Dortmund and Schalke were responsible for another 20 percent, with their added turnover reaching 475.4 million euros. The other 60 percent were left to the remaining 15 clubs in the league. 13 out of the 18 Bundesliga clubs, and one more than in the previous season, operated profitably, the Bundesliga report stated. It also showed that last season the German professional football was a major taxpayer with some 845 million euros paid, with close to 50,000 people worked for the clubs. The two upper German tiers employ a total of 48,830 people, with 17,228 employed directly by the clubs and 31,602 people are directly employed in the running of the league, such as security employees, catering firms and cleaning services. The Bundesliga also remained the most widely attended football league in the world, with an average attendance of 42,609 fans at every match. This equates to 90 percent of the overall capacity. The German league is set to receive another cash injection in the summer of 2015 when new international TV contracts kick in, more than doubling the marketing figures abroad from 70 million euros to 150 million euros. "Over the last few years, professional football in Germany has used its solid financial foundations to achieve outstanding sporting results," Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert said in Frankfurt on Thursday. "Looking forward, the outlook remains upbeat as Bundesliga's economic growth is continuing unabated. This will form the basis for the clubs' future performance and allow them to finance the manifold activities which they carry out for the good of society as a whole." According to a report in Die Welt, Seifert also announced that from the upcoming season on, clubs have to lay open their payments to player agents which, according to recent reports in German media, surpassed 100 million euros last season. "Through that we fulfil a FIFA requirement, but I also like the idea," Seifert said, but added that by doing so the German Football League does not question the legitimacy of agents.
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