The “Finaltag der Amateure” is unique in its form and scope and thrills soccer fans throughout Germany year after year. The tenth edition of the format, in which 20* men's cup finals of the DFB regional associations were broadcast in a multi-part live TV conference on 24 May 2025, was once again watched by several million viewers on "Das Erste". The broadcast ensured strong ratings for more than seven hours, with market shares consistently above 12%. In addition, many matches were also available in full length as live streams on the respective online offerings of the producing state broadcasters, on sportschau.de and in the ARD media library. Around 123,000 spectators watched the cup finals on site in the 20 final stadiums, providing an atmospheric backdrop for the broadcast.
The ARD TV broadcast was divided into four sub-conferences with different kick-off times. The first block of matches, which kicked off at 12:30 p.m., reached 860,000 viewers with a market share of 12.6 percent. The second conference from 14:30 increased to 1.12 million viewers (13.2 percent market share). The third block from 16:30 was particularly strong with 1.63 million viewers and a market share of 14.9 percent. The final block was the conference from 17:30, which achieved a market share of 13.8% with 1.90 million viewers.
"Amateur soccer offers emotional highlights"
Dirk Brennecke, coordinator of the Finaltag der Amateure and Managing Director of the Mittelrhein Football Association, said: "The Finaltag der Amateure 2025 has once again shown the potential for identification in amateur soccer. The stories written on this day deserve this big stage. We would like to thank ARD and its state broadcasters for the excellent implementation and are delighted with the great interest - both in the stadiums and in front of the screens."
ARD Sports Coordinator Axel Balkausky emphasized: "The Finaltag der Amateure 2025 celebrated an extremely successful anniversary. The strong viewer response to the tenth edition of the format was even better than in previous years. Amateur soccer always offers emotion, excitement and the best stories - and we are delighted to be able to make these visible through our live broadcasts."
The eleventh edition of the event is planned for May 23, 2026 - once again on the day of the men's DFB Cup final.
*Due to Arminia Bielefeld's participation in the DFB Cup final, thestate cup final of the Football and Athletics Association of Westphalia (FLVW) could not be played on the Finaltag der Amateure and was therefore not part of the ARD conference on May 24, 2025.
