Rugby barely gets any airtime in Germany. Walk into a sports bar on a game day and you’ll see wall-to-wall soccer, maybe a dash of handball or ice hockey. Rugby? Good luck even finding a mention. For anyone coming from a rugby-obsessed country, this can feel downright weird.
If you’re hunting for rugby fixtures in Germany, get ready for a scavenger hunt. The top leagues don’t make headlines, and most Germans probably can’t name a single local rugby club. Instead, soccer rules everything, sucking up attention, sponsors, and even the athletes who might thrive in rugby.
- German Sports Culture and Priorities
- A Short History of Rugby in Germany
- Rugby vs. Soccer: The Real Rivalry
- Where to Watch or Play Rugby in Germany
- Can Rugby Ever Get Big in Germany?
German Sports Culture and Priorities
The German sports scene is basically built around one thing: Fußball, or soccer. From tiny villages to giant cities, nearly everyone is hooked. There are more than 26,000 soccer clubs in Germany and the Bundesliga draws in millions of viewers every weekend. Even kids in kindergarten know the top players. If you’re looking for rugby, you’d have to dig deep under all this obsession.
Other sports like handball, basketball, and ice hockey have their followings too, but again, rugby sits way down the list. The German system supports sports with mass participation, strong youth coaching, and media buzz. Rugby just doesn’t check those boxes.
Check out how German sports stack up for popularity, using annual membership and viewership stats:
| Sport | Registered Players | TV Viewership (Average Per Game) |
|---|---|---|
| Soccer | 7 million+ | 5-6 million |
| Handball | 750,000 | 800,000 |
| Basketball | 250,000 | 400,000 |
| Ice Hockey | 200,000 | 300,000 |
| Rugby | 15,000 | Less than 1,000 |
Family and school sports programs rarely include rugby, so hardly anyone grows up with it. Even in universities, rugby clubs are outnumbered by almost every other sport. If you want to fit in or find regular games, the odds tilt heavily toward soccer or handball.
If you just moved to Germany or are traveling and hoping to catch a rugby fixture, you’ll see the priorities are obvious—the sport just doesn’t have a foothold here. Most people couldn’t even tell you the rules, let alone when a match is happening.
A Short History of Rugby in Germany
Rugby actually showed up in Germany a lot earlier than most people think. The first recorded game happened in 1858 at Neuenheim College, and by 1872, Germany had a club in Heidelberg. Heidelberg’s still known as the hub for rugby in the country—if there’s any place flying the rugby flag, that’s it.
But rugby never grew much past small circles. Unlike in England or France, where rugby built huge communities, German rugby stayed stuck as basically a university hobby. One big hit to its growth was political. In the Nazi era, rugby got side-lined as it was seen as a British import, not “German” enough. That stuff can really stunt a sport, and German rugby never truly recovered from it.
The German Rugby Federation (DRV) kicked off in 1900, even helping to found the International Rugby Board, but while other countries soared, Germany stalled. As rugby in Germany historian Klaus Kuhl puts it:
“Soccer took root everywhere, while rugby remained a small island, never really leaving the universities and military clubs.”
After World War II, rugby started over but faced the same old problems—small clubs, not much money, and almost zero media interest. Even today, the German national team is full of amateur players who train after their day jobs.
Heidelberg stays strong, with clubs like SC Neuenheim and RG Heidelberg keeping the sport alive. But unless you live in a few big cities or are really digging into the scene, you’d never know German rugby even exists.
Rugby vs. Soccer: The Real Rivalry
Germany treats soccer the way England treats the Queen—with complete devotion. The Bundesliga dominates almost every conversation about sports, and local clubs have loyal fans filling giant stadiums week after week. By contrast, rugby in Germany sits in the background, barely visible to most people.
This goes way back, too. After World War II, soccer was a unifying force for post-war Germany. The 1954 World Cup win—known as the Miracle of Bern—became a symbol of national recovery. That gave soccer a huge head start, sucking up players, coaches, and sponsors that a newer or smaller sport like rugby couldn't hope to match.
Actual numbers tell the story. As of 2024, the German Football Association boasts over 7 million members and around 24,000 clubs. Rugby? The German Rugby Federation hovers around 15,000 members, with fewer than 130 clubs nationwide. Here’s how the numbers compare:
| Soccer | Rugby | |
|---|---|---|
| Registered players | 7,000,000+ | 15,000 |
| Clubs | 24,000 | 130 |
| Top league average attendance | 40,000+ | 500 |
The difference isn’t just about numbers. Kids grow up dreaming of playing for Bayern Munich, not Heidelberger RK (Germany’s most successful rugby club, but basically unknown outside its city). Schools and youth programs are wired for soccer, and even competitive funding from the German government mostly heads to football and Olympic sports.
A rugby coach from Berlin summed it up best in a 2022 interview for Deutsche Welle:
"Convincing a teenager to try rugby when their friends play soccer every day is like selling ice in a snowstorm. The whole system is built for football."
If you’re hoping for a local rugby fixture, you need to search hard. Soccer matches are everywhere—just check the neighborhood park or the nearest TV. Rugby, meanwhile, usually gets the leftover fields and time slots. It's not that Germans dislike rugby; they just never really got the chance to fall in love with it.
Where to Watch or Play Rugby in Germany
Trying to find a live rugby game in Germany? You’ll have to dig deeper than in places like England or France. The rugby in Germany scene is small, but there’s actually more going on than you’d think if you know where to look.
The main league is the Rugby-Bundesliga and most matches happen between September and May. Don’t expect big stadiums—think more along the lines of local sports clubs. Berlin, Heidelberg, and Hannover are your best bets for both men’s and women’s rugby. These cities have active clubs like Berliner RC, SC Neuenheim, and TSV Handschuhsheim.
| City | Top Club | Number of Registered Players (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| Heidelberg | RG Heidelberg | 700+ |
| Berlin | Berliner RC | 450+ |
| Hannover | DSV 1878 Hannover | 400+ |
| Frankfurt | SC Frankfurt 1880 | 550+ |
If you want to watch, skip the big sports channels. Streaming is usually handled by the clubs’ own websites or German Rugby Federation (DRV) pages. For big games (like Bundesliga semifinals), sometimes you’ll catch a livestream on YouTube.
Actually want to play? Good news: Most clubs are open to newcomers, even if you’re a total beginner. Rugby clubs in Germany are used to international players passing through, and English is often spoken at training. Just drop them an email or show up for a beginner session—no fancy tryouts, just bring a pair of boots.
- Search “Rugby Club + [your city]” to find local teams.
- Check the DRV site for Bundesliga fixtures and club contacts: www.rugby-verband.de
- Women’s and youth rugby welcome beginners too—no experience needed.
So sure, rugby is a niche thing here, but if you’re motivated, you’ll definitely find a pitch, some teammates, and probably a post-match beer.
Can Rugby Ever Get Big in Germany?
If you ask around in Germany, most locals know next to nothing about rugby. Some have never even seen a match. But could things change? Well, there are a few things to keep in mind.
The biggest competition, obviously, is rugby in Germany going head-to-head with soccer. Germany has more licensed soccer players than any other country in the world—over 7 million. Rugby, on the other hand, has to settle for less than 15,000 registered players according to World Rugby's 2023 stats.
| Sport | Registered Players (2023) |
|---|---|
| Soccer | 7,100,000+ |
| Rugby | 14,850 |
The national team hardly gets media coverage, and German Rugby Bundesliga games usually pull in small crowds, sometimes less than a thousand people. That doesn’t mean rugby is totally invisible—it just survives on a smaller, super-passionate scale with a few clubs in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Heidelberg doing most of the heavy lifting.
So, what would it take for rugby to really catch on?
- Schools would have to step up. Getting rugby into PE lessons and after-school programs means younger kids could choose rugby before soccer fills up the roster. Most German schools don’t offer it right now.
- TV coverage is a big deal. Right now, you’ve got to stream online or hope for a rare slot on pay TV. Regular broadcasting would help a lot.
- Star power. A German player making it big in a major rugby nation (like England’s Premiership or France’s Top 14) could catch people’s attention the way Dirk Nowitzki did for basketball in Germany.
There have been small steps. The Rugby Europe Championship is getting better coverage, and some Bundesliga games have streaming deals. The German Rugby Federation is pushing grassroots events and school programs. But the truth is, unless rugby finds a way to break soccer’s grip, it’ll probably stay a niche sport for a while longer. If you’re hunting for a rugby scene, it’s there—you just have to look harder for it than you would in London or Paris.