Big clubs in Germany’s second division taking attention away from Bundesliga
By CIARÁN FAHEY
AP Sports Writer
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s second division threatens to take attention away from the Bundesliga next season with several heavyweights competing at the lower level. Hertha Berlin and Schalke were relegated from the top flight. They join the likes of second-tier teams Hamburg, Nuremberg, Kaiserslautern, Hannover and Fortuna Düsseldorf. They’re all teams playing in stadiums with the capacity for around 50,000 supporters or more. Only five of 18 teams playing in the Bundesliga next season can boast such spectator numbers. When Hertha hosts Hamburg in its 75,000-capacity Olympiastadion, or Schalke hosts Kaiserslautern in front of 62,000 fans in Gelsenkirchen, the games will draw more attention than many first-division matches.