What's new in the Bundesliga in 2026/27?
With a new club, a new match ball and new rules, the upcoming Bundesliga season brings a number of changes. Here's an overview of the most important developments.
A new Bundesliga club
Elversberg achieved the seemingly impossible and secured promotion to Germany's top flight. The club becomes the 59th team in Bundesliga history and, at the same time, the smallest, considering that the municipality of Spiesen-Elversberg, where their stadium is located, has a population of only around 13,000.
Joining Elversberg in the Bundesliga, albeit not as newcomers, are Schalke and, thanks to a successful relegation play-off campaign, Paderborn, both of whom return to the top tier.
Two new stadium names
Not including Elversberg's URSAPHARM-Arena, which will host Bundesliga football for the first time, there will be two rebranded top-flight venues.
Both Borussia Mönchengladbach and Hoffenheim's stadiums will have new names and will now respectively be known as Ista Borussia-Park and the SNP Arena.
A new match ball
The second leg of the Bundesliga 2 relegation play-off between Greuther Fürth and Rot-Weiss Essen marked the final appearance of a DERBYSTAR ball in German professional football.
From now on, adidas will once again supply the official match balls for the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, having previously held the contract between the 2010/11 and 2017/18 seasons.
New rules
The game itself will also see a number of changes in the new season. Earlier this year, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), football's law-making body, announced several amendments that will come into effect at the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the USA before subsequently being introduced in the Bundesliga.
One example is the eight-second rule, which has previously applied to goalkeepers holding the ball before releasing it. In future, it will also apply to goal kicks and throw-ins, with referees counting down the final five seconds using hand signals.
Additional measures, including time limits for substitutions and a mandatory one-minute absence for players who received on-field treatment, are intended to improve the flow of the game and reduce potential time wasting.
VAR's role will also be expanded. The video assistant referee will now have a say in incidents involving second yellow cards and corner-kick decisions, while also being able to intervene in cases of mistaken identity, such as if a referee accidentally cautions a player from the wrong team.
Changes to international breaks
Another major change concerns the international break calendar. From the 2026/27 season onwards, there will only be two breaks during the autumn as opposed to three.
In concrete terms, that means Bundesliga action will pause for 16 days from late September to early October, while the November international break will remain a nine-day interruption.
A new name
From the 2026/27 season onwards, the league association will operate exclusively under the Bundesliga brand, with the DFL name being phased out.
The move is intended to give German professional football a clearer, more unified identity and make it more recognisable internationally.
