#6 — Stefan Bienkowski on the German football media, Bayern's dominance in English-speaking coverage and transfer speculation

Stefan Bienkowski is the UK content manager for Transfermarkt, where in his own words, his remit is "everything but" German football. 

However, it's the work he does outside his nine-to-five that makes him a well-known name among avid followers of the Bundesliga. Alongside Manuel Veth, Stefan runs the Gegenpressing Podcast and Newsletter, one of the best English-language resources for understanding the German game. 

Stefan has lived and worked in Gemrany too. He was previously a football correspondent for Deutsche Welle, and has contributed to leading titles including The Telegraph and Guardian. 

Here's what we covered: 

• Stefan's work with Transfermarkt, and the Gegenpressing Newsletter/Podcast (3:00)
• The stories Stefan and his colleagues cover on Gegenpressing (5:15)
• Stefan's experience of living and working in Germany (8:00)
• The dominance of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in the English-language coverage of German football (10:00) 
• How the German media cover the transfer market (16:30)
• The similarities between Germany's media and other major European footballing powers (23:30)
• The idea that the Bundesliga has become a 'development league' for Europe's elite clubs (26:30)
• Fan sentiment towards Bayern's dominance, and attitudes towards the 'financialisation' of football in Germany and other markets (33:30)
• The stories from the 24/25 season which have been 'undercovered' by English outlets (40:00) 

The Gegenpressing Newsletter: gegenpressing.substack.com 

Project Fußball: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/project-fu%C3%9Fball/id1548252056 

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About The Bundesletter Podcast

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