2. Bundesliga: Dates, teams, history & betting odds

The 2. Bundesliga is the second tier of Germany football, with teams striving to reach the Bundesliga each season.

FC St Pauli won the league in 2023/24, securing their first promotion to the top flight since 2010, while Holstein Kiel finished second, completing a remarkable rise from the regional leagues in 2013 to the Bundesliga in little over a decade.

2. Bundesliga dates

The 2024/25 2. Bundesliga season started on 2nd August 2024 and will conclude on 18th May 2025.

2. Bundesliga teams

Here is the list of teams that will compete in the 2024/25 2. Bundesliga campaign.

• 1. FC Kaiserslautern
• 1. FC Köln
• 1. FC Magdeburg
• 1. FC Nürnberg
• Darmstadt 98
• Eintracht Braunschweig
• Fortuna Düsseldorf
• Greuther Fürth
• Hamburger SV
• Hannover 96
• Hertha BSC
• Jahn Regensburg
• Karlsruher SC
• Preußen Münster
• SC Paderborn
• Schalke 04
• SSV Ulm
• SV Elversberg

2. Bundesliga venues/stadiums

The 2. Bundesliga has 18 teams which play each other twice across the season to determine their final placings.

Here is the list of stadiums that will be used in 2. Bundesliga for the 2024/25 season.

Team	Stadium	Capacity
1. FC Kaiserslautern	Fritz-Walter-Stadion	49,327
1. FC Köln	RheinEnergieStadion	49,698
1. FC Magdeburg	Avnet Arena	30,098
1. FC Nürnberg	Max-Morlock-Stadion	49,923
Darmstadt 98	Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor	17,650
Eintracht Braunschweig	Eintracht-Stadion	23,325
Fortuna Düsseldorf	Merkur Spiel-Arena	54,600
Greuther Fürth	Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer	16,626
Hamburger SV	Volksparkstadion	57,000
Hannover 96	Heinz von Heiden Arena	49,000
Hertha BSC	Olympiastadion	74,649
Jahn Regensburg	Jahnstadion Regensburg	15,210
Karlsruher SC	BBBank Wildpark	34,302
Preußen Münster	Preußenstadion	14,300
SC Paderborn	Home Deluxe Arena	15,000
Schalke 04	Veltins-Arena	62,271
SV Elversberg	Waldstadion an der Kaiserlinde	10,000

2. Bundesliga history

Eleven years after the creation of the Bundesliga, the 2. Bundesliga was formed as German football's second tier, with its first season commencing in 1974 with two divisions of 20 clubs, eventually being reduced to a single division in 1981.

From 1991, following the reunification of Germany, clubs from the old East Germany began participating in the league prompting the temporary expansion to two division.

The league returned to one division the following season, and was reduced to 18 teams in 1994.

2. Bundesliga previous winners

Season	Champions
1981–82	Schalke 04
1982–83	Waldhof Mannheim
1983–84	Karlsruher SC
1984–85	1. FC Nürnberg
1985–86	Homburg
1986–87	Hannover 96
1987–88	Stuttgarter Kickers
1988–89	Fortuna Düsseldorf
1989–90	Hertha BSC
1990–91	Schalke 04
Split into two divisions for 1991/92 season
1992–93	SC Freiburg
1993–94	VfL Bochum
1994–95	Hansa Rostock
1995–96	VfL Bochum
1996–97	1. FC Kaiserslautern
1997–98	Eintracht Frankfurt
1998–99	Arminia Bielefeld
1999–2000	1. FC Köln
2000–01	1. FC Nürnberg
2001–02	Hannover 96
2002–03	SC Freiburg
2003–04	1. FC Nürnberg
2004–05	1. FC Köln
2005–06	VfL Bochum
2006–07	Karlsruher SC
2007–08	Borussia Mönchengladbach
2008–09	SC Freiburg
2009–10	1. FC Kaiserslautern
2010–11	Hertha BSC
2011–12	Greuther Fürth
2012–13	Hertha BSC
2013–14	1. FC Köln
2014–15	FC Ingolstadt
2015–16	SC Freiburg
2016–17	VfB Stuttgart
2017–18	Fortuna Düsseldorf
2018–19	1. FC Köln
2019–20	Arminia Bielefeld
2020–21	VfL Bochum
2021–22	Schalke 04
2022–23	1. FC Heidenheim
2023–24	FC St. Pauli

2. Bundesliga North and South winners

2. Bundesliga North		2. Bundesliga South
Season	Champions	Season	Champions
1974–75	Hannover 96	1974–75	Karlsruher SC
1975–76	Tennis Borussia Berlin	1975–76	1. FC Saarbrücken
1976–77	FC St. Pauli	1976–77	VfB Stuttgart
1977–78	Arminia Bielefeld	1977–78	Darmstadt 98
1978–79	Bayer Leverkusen	1978–79	1860 Munich
1979–80	Arminia Bielefeld	1979–80	1. FC Nürnberg
1980–81	Werder Bremen	1980–81	Darmstadt 98
Played as one division between 1981/82 and 1990/91
1991–92	Bayer Uerdingen	1991–92	1. FC Saarbrücken

2. Bundesliga favourites

With a number of big German clubs suffering relegation in recent years, the 2. Bundesliga is becoming increasingly competitive. While Schalke are still a long way off a Bundesliga return, the likes of Hannover, Fortunda Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne and Hertha Berlin harbour ambitions of promotion.