TV/Tickets Questions from a newbie

[The-Spencer]

Hi, I'm going to be living in Freiburg next year and I've been reading up and becoming interested on the Bundesliga. I have a couple of questions that I was hoping could get answered.

First off, how easy or difficult is it to get tickets to Bundesliga games? Specifically, I'll probably be looking to drive up to Stuttgart and watch Kuranyi work his magic some. Will I be able to just go there that morning and get cheap tickets or do I have to buy them ahead of time?

Also, I was wondering how people in Germany follow the games. Since all the games are pretty much on at one time can you only watch one match per week? If so, is it just the local club or whichever game was thought to be the best match? Could I go to a bar and they would be showing other games or is it just what's available on free TV?

Then when I return to the US, is there any way to continue following the Bundesliga? I see that Fox Soccer Channel shows games occasionally, is that the only real option?

Sorry for the thirty or so questions I've asked here but I just want to find out as much about the Bundesliga and Germany in general before I head over there.

[The Old Lady Hertha]

Hi, I'm going to be living in Freiburg next year and I've been reading up and becoming interested on the Bundesliga. I have a couple of questions that I was hoping could get answered.

First off, how easy or difficult is it to get tickets to Bundesliga games? Specifically, I'll probably be looking to drive up to Stuttgart and watch Kuranyi work his magic some. Will I be able to just go there that morning and get cheap tickets or do I have to buy them ahead of time?

Also, I was wondering how people in Germany follow the games. Since all the games are pretty much on at one time can you only watch one match per week? If so, is it just the local club or whichever game was thought to be the best match? Could I go to a bar and they would be showing other games or is it just what's available on free TV?

Then when I return to the US, is there any way to continue following the Bundesliga? I see that Fox Soccer Channel shows games occasionally, is that the only real option?

Sorry for the thirty or so questions I've asked here but I just want to find out as much about the Bundesliga and Germany in general before I head over there.

1. Next year, Freiburg will be in the Zwei Bundesliga, considering they are last in die Bundesliga this year, so tickets to the Badenova Stadion should be easy. If you want to see VfB Strutgart, their attendance is good but they usually have some empty seats against crap teams. However, another trip to the Champs League or UEFA Cup will sparkle more interest into the team as they are always competing for European places in the league table.
2. Kuranyi possesses very little "magic." He just somehow scores goals :D
3. Hopefully a native German will answer this question, I'm an American.
4. Only FSC has this I think.

Only 4 questions really...not so much for BigSoccer members to answer :)

[The-Spencer]

Yeah, I'll go to a number of SC Freiburg games. I've been planning to go to Freiburg for some time and when I first found out they had a Bundesliga team I was so excited. Then came this season where I watched Freiburg begin their slow, excrutiating, practically winless march towards relegation. Quite dissapointing.

By the way, thanks Hertha for your help.

[jonam]

Also, I was wondering how people in Germany follow the games. Since all the games are pretty much on at one time can you only watch one match per week? If so, is it just the local club or whichever game was thought to be the best match? Could I go to a bar and they would be showing other games or is it just what's available on free TV?


- 7 matches on Saturday 3.30pm, 2 on Sunday 5.30pm
- highlights shows on Saturday 6.10pm, Sunday 7.00pm (free-TV)
- Premiere (pay-TV, about 30 Euro a month) shows every Bundesliga match live plus a conference channel which hops between the matches that are on. So you can see 2 complete matches per weekend. Btw, they also show every CL match live, national matches, NFL, NBA, other German sports and tons of other content.
- There are many sports bars (premiere sports bars) that show Bundesliga matches. Most of them show the conference channel to serve all their guests (or the most interesting and exciting match is shown). Some bars show a certain team only (especially when there is a local club nearby so that many supporters are around or when the host is a fan himself). There is a website called www.sportkneipe.de (http://www.sportkneipe.de/) where you can easily find bars around your place that show certain teams or the conference channel (search by ZIP-code and/or club).

[nyceuro]

FSC shows 1 match per week on Saturday, usually early morning(8-11am) eastern time, but other times as well. Also on Tuesdays I believe is the weekend wrap with highlights from all matches. example this week we get a double dose of Schalke :(

While your there, check out Kaiserslautern(not that far), (yes im partial), Fritz Walter Stadion is nice. And even if you get to see 1.FCK at Stuttgart, you get to see our great fans, although a fact being that we will probably lose there.

check out the schedule
also the US pub guide Pubs (http://msn.foxsports.com/story/802702)

[DanielHSV]

Hi, I'm going to be living in Freiburg next year and I've been reading up and becoming interested on the Bundesliga. I have a couple of questions that I was hoping could get answered.

First off, how easy or difficult is it to get tickets to Bundesliga games? Specifically, I'll probably be looking to drive up to Stuttgart and watch Kuranyi work his magic some. Will I be able to just go there that morning and get cheap tickets or do I have to buy them ahead of time?

Also, I was wondering how people in Germany follow the games. Since all the games are pretty much on at one time can you only watch one match per week? If so, is it just the local club or whichever game was thought to be the best match? Could I go to a bar and they would be showing other games or is it just what's available on free TV?

Then when I return to the US, is there any way to continue following the Bundesliga? I see that Fox Soccer Channel shows games occasionally, is that the only real option?

Sorry for the thirty or so questions I've asked here but I just want to find out as much about the Bundesliga and Germany in general before I head over there.


I guess jonam said all about the TV part and how people follow the Bundesliga.
Concerning your Stuttgart question, they have a capacity of 49000 and an average attendance of 38191, so there are some games where you have to buy tickets weeks before the game (e.g. Bayern), but there are certainly enough games where you just go to the stadium the day of the game.

[footyfan1]

Many others have responded to parts of this, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyhow.




Hi, I'm going to be living in Freiburg next year and I've been reading up and becoming interested on the Bundesliga. I have a couple of questions that I was hoping could get answered.

First off, how easy or difficult is it to get tickets to Bundesliga games? Specifically, I'll probably be looking to drive up to Stuttgart and watch Kuranyi work his magic some. Will I be able to just go there that morning and get cheap tickets or do I have to buy them ahead of time?



As someone else said, in Stuttgart, it depends on who the opponent is. If it's an upper echelon opponent, the likes of Bayern, Leverkusen, Bremen, Schalke, etc, you'd better get those tickets in advance. If it's someone like one of the promoted teams or just a perennial mid-table team like HSV or Hertha, unless they are from somewhere fairly close like Nuernberg or Kaiserslautern, you could probably score tickets on match day.

Actually, if I were you, I'd hope 1860 Munich gets promoted and catch their matches at the Allianz Arena. Longer drive, but the ticket prices will be about the same and I'm sorry if I offend Stuttgart fans, but the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion isn't the best place to watch a match.......

People won't believe this, but you can usually get tickets for Bayern matches close to matchday as long as they aren't playing one of their rivals at the top of the table. I know in all the years I was there, I never had a problem unless they were playing Dortmund, 1860, Stuttgart, etc.....

But I can also tell you that Bayern's on-line ticket service is the easiest and best in Germany to use.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Also, I was wondering how people in Germany follow the games. Since all the games are pretty much on at one time can you only watch one match per week? If so, is it just the local club or whichever game was thought to be the best match? Could I go to a bar and they would be showing other games or is it just what's available on free TV?

Again, as someone wrote in another response, the Premiere Sports Package carries all the BL matches on any given weekend. For most of my time there, I had Premiere at my apartment. It's well worth the cost. But, if you can't have it where you are, most bars will show the matches of the the team that is most popular in the area. Honestly, in Freiburg, since SCF will be relegated, that "most popular team" will probably be Schalke or Kaiserslautern. They have rivalries with Stuttgart and Bayern and they pissed away their friendship with Dortmund once Dortmund rose to prominence.

The "free TV" highlight shows are OK, but if you can spare the money, I'd get Premiere. They show replays of matches almost all night after the matches are over and most of that next week. In my last full season in Germany, I think I saw every BL match.



Then when I return to the US, is there any way to continue following the Bundesliga? I see that Fox Soccer Channel shows games occasionally, is that the only real option?


FSC only shows one partially delayed match per weekend as I believe someone else mentioned. Once you return here to the USA, if you can invest in the DISH Network (Satellite TV), they have a German channel called "ProSiebenSat1 Welt". "Pro Sieben" and "Sat 1" are two German channels owned by Premiere's parent company KirchMedia. They show one live match on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Other than that, there's "Coolstreaming", which is a program you can download to your computer to get Chinese TV feeds through the internet. CCTV-5 carries a live match on Saturday and then one of the other Saturday matches directly afterwards. They also carry one of the Sunday matches. It's not the best way to view a match, but in my case, it's certainly better than nothing or just FSC.



Sorry for the thirty or so questions I've asked here but I just want to find out as much about the Bundesliga and Germany in general before I head over there.

Hope we all could help!!

[nyceuro]

FSC only shows one partially delayed match per weekend as I believe someone else mentioned. Once you return here to the USA, if you can invest in the DISH Network (Satellite TV), they have a German channel called "ProSiebenSat1 Welt". "Pro Sieben" and "Sat 1" are two German channels owned by Premiere's parent company KirchMedia. They show one live match on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Ya i timed it a few times seems to be a 10 min or so delay. I didnt know about the 2 channels on DISH, mainly because I looked at Direct TV which wants you to own the best package available just to get FSC. Now I will check out DISH.

[footyfan1]

Ya i timed it (Coolstreaming) a few times seems to be a 10 min or so delay. I didnt know about the 2 channels on DISH, mainly because I looked at Direct TV which wants you to own the best package available just to get FSC. Now I will check out DISH.


I think the Coolstreaming delay depends on how many are using it at any given time. I once timed it using Dortmund's NetRadio and I had it as approximately four minutes behind.

However, I was told that time varies.

Let me know how DISH works out for you. If I move soon, I'm going DISH.

Unless, of course, my next move is back to Deutschland!! ;-)

[F96]

People won't believe this, but you can usually get tickets for Bayern matches close to matchday as long as they aren't playing one of their rivals at the top of the table. I know in all the years I was there, I never had a problem unless they were playing Dortmund, 1860, Stuttgart, etc.....

But I can also tell you that Bayern's on-line ticket service is the easiest and best in Germany to use.

It might be different though now in their first season in the new arena as everyone in the area want to experience it because it's new.

[The-Spencer]

Thanks everyone, this is great. I downloaded CoolStreaming so I'll see how it works this saturday (in between watching the draft and the boston celtics in the playoffs). As for buying tickets ahead of time, just go through the teams website?

And is there anything else good through the Coolstreaming channels?

[footyfan1]

It might be different though now in their first season in the new arena as everyone in the area want to experience it because it's new.


True. But I think he'll still get tickets.

[DanielHSV]

True. But I think he'll still get tickets.

At least for the 1860 games, cos they obviously don't have that many fans. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the Bayern games are sold out next season.

[nyceuro]

At least for the 1860 games, cos they obviously don't have that many fans. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the Bayern games are sold out next season.

dont tell my mother in law that, she grew up an 1860, walking distance away :)

[The-Spencer]

Anybody know what the chances of tomorrow's Arminia-Bayern match being on CoolStreaming? Or to cut out the middle man, how I could find something like this out for myself? The CCTV5 schedule on coolstreaming's site doesnt show up for me.

[todd11]

It's good to hear that you are still planning on going to SC Freiburg matches. When I moved here, I was sure that I'd be roadtripping to 'Lautern or E.Frankfurt (then in the 1.liga) because I really wanted to see 1.liga matches.. Luckily, I was shanghaied by a local who brought me to my first Mainz 05 game (then in the 2.liga). I went reluctantly thinking, "why would I want to see a lower division team??" I think you may become hooked, as I did---Freiburg have a nice intimate stadium and a kinda cultish following similar to Mainz---a nice mix of people, students, blue collar guys, professors, professionals, everthing. The 2.liga is actually of much higher quality than you probably think coming from america. Add to that the fact that there are really only the hardcore fans (here I mean diehards, not hoolies, cept maybe in the eastern teams) at the games, and wicked cheap tickets. The 2.liga makes for a real true 'football' experience IMHO, and it's also great because if you go to 1.liga games in Spaetzletown :) or where ever, the 2.liga games are on fri. and sun (early afternoon)--- so you can still see a 1.liga game on the same weekend. It's a paradise! You're gonna have a great time, Freiburg is a beautiful city!