People across the globe know the quality and thrills that the UEFA Champions League or Copa Libertadores bring into their homes. The grandiose architecture of Wembley Stadium and the spectacular cheering at La Bomboniera are already part of the global collective memory and pop culture.
With those more powerful leagues and cups around the world in the spotlight, many second divisions pass under the radar. This article analyzes why this is the case and what second divisions bring the most excitement to their fans.
The first reason for such a discrepancy between the elite football competitions and most popular first divisions, and their secondary counterparts is the value of TV rights. In the 2020/2021 season, the UEFA Champions League generated €3.1 billion from broadcast agreements. Now watched on every continent, this competition is the most powerful football brand in the world.
In second place is the Premier League. At the end of 2023, the Premier League signed a four-year contract with Sky Sports and TNT Sports worth £6.7 billion, starting from the 2025/2026 season.
The English Football League (consisting of the Championship, League One, and League Two) also made a terrific £1 billion agreement for the 2024/2025-2028/2029 period.
This string of data has led us to the first conclusion here: the Championship is the most popular second division in Europe. Knowing that the winners of this competition enter the crème-de-la-crem first division – Premier League – no wonder this league is so popular. For instance, the playoffs at the end of the 2022/23 season, with Coventry City, Sunderland, Luton Town, and Middlesbrough raised a tremendous interest even among neutral football fans, especially within the betting industry, with odds coming from all relevant niche platforms.
When it comes to the second most popular and competitive second division in Europe, the situation is pretty clear: it's the Zweite Bundesliga, i.e., the second German division. Even though it doesn't generate as much revenue as the Championship, it has a different quality: dozens of 2nd-league clubs come from mid-sized and large German towns. They have a large pool of local followers and fans. Hence, most stadiums are almost full every weekend, yielding noteworthy income and loyalty.
The bronze medal in this mini-contest should go to Ligue 2, with the likes of legendary clubs such as Auxerre or Bordeaux struggling to get back to Ligue 1. France, thanks to its size and numerous mid-sized towns, encompasses numerous clubs that have deep-rooted audiences rooting for them no matter what division they play in. Also, many Ligue 2 clubs have educated coaches for younger teams and have been practicing proven drills that create great players (think Auxerre).
The fourth position would logically go to Italian Serie B, given the large population of Italy and the cult status of Calcio on the Apennine Peninsula. However, outdated infrastructure and weaker results of Italian clubs in the last decade in all international competitions make this place questionable. It would be more if the Spanish Segunda and Serie B share the fourth place in this order of the best second divisions in Europe. Given the intensive nature of Primera, the second division in Spain also displays dozens of derbies every weekend. Every segunder is fervent about upgrading to Primera, so the matches are also driven with unique passion.
Many other European countries have fierce and competitive second football divisions and committed fan bases, such as Portugal, Poland, Scotland, etc., with once-famous players often playing for teams in lower leagues.
