From amateur football to the UCL 

©TM/IMAGO

Back in 2000, Matthias Seidel founded Transfermarkt.de as a hobby. Today, it is an online sports site with the world’s most extensive football database, with 6 million users, and a global player with 27 successful international domains from the United States to Indonesia. As part of the 25-year celebrations, we have jumped into the TM time machine to take a look back through the company’s history.

“As a big fan of Werder Bremen living in Hamburg, I was looking for a way to stay up to date with Werder news and rumors,” Seidel said. “Back in 2000, not all media companies were online, and staying up-to-date with the latest football news wasn’t easy. With that in mind, I had an idea to create a community to share the news I needed to know. That’s why I founded Transfermarkt.de.” Seidel reiterates his pride in what has happened to the site over the last 25 years. Furthermore, the path is far from over. “It is an impressive history,” Seidel said. “Especially when you consider what we have done with our database and the market values.”

When Seidel discusses Transfermarkt, he frequently emphasizes the community. “I am thankful towards everyone who has been part of the journey,” Seidel said. “But first come the users. The amount of detail in which they collected data, the high-level discussions in the forums, and the support with the news, motivated us and made it fun.” Although he has left the board and the company in an official capacity at the start of 2025, Seidel continues to feed the world’s largest free-to-access database with match reports.

Transfermarkt turns 25: Milestones in the TM history

2000/01: Transfermarkt.de is born. A rudimentary version of the football site, as imagined by founder Matthias Seidel, goes online. The TM database is created and continually grows thanks to the help of users, who contribute information to the platform, keeping it up to date.

2002: Seidel integrates a list of player agents on Transfermarkt.de, which makes it an increasingly important platform for people working in the industry.

2003: The first organized meeting of Transfermarkt users takes place, with 17 users gathering in Dortmund. In a party basement located at a local church, the user play kick around, play quizzes, and party.

2004: Seidel introduces market values. From now on, they have become an integral part of player profiles on Transfermarkt and remain an essential component of the site to this day.

2006: After the World Cup in Germany, Transfermarkt.de introduces the first major relaunch of the site.

2007: The “Rumor Mill” on Transfermarkt.de, with the help of users, becomes connected to the database. Furthermore, the internationalization of the football site gets kicked off. The first site outside of Germany becomes the Austrian version of TM.

2008: Transfermarkt.ch is launched in Switzerland, and in the same year, Transfermarkt becomes part of Axel Springer. Seidel, when asked about the topic, said: “The decision to bring Axel Springer SE as a partner on board was the best strategic decision in the history of the company. In 2008, there were no proper business structures, and we had just three employees.”

2009: Transfermarkt.co.uk is launched in the United Kingdom, and Transfermarkt.tv is started for video content. In the form of the Transfermarkt-Saisonheft 2009/10, Transfermarkt launched its first print publication. The publication is an in-depth preview magazine for the 2009/10 Bundesliga season.

2010: Re-Launch V3! Transfermarkt.de is being thoroughly updated. The team gives the site a brand-new look. Shortly after, Transfermarkt.it is launched in Italy and Transfermarkt.com.tr in Türkiye.

2012: Transfermarkt.pl is launched in Poland. Transfermarkt.de acquires WahreTabelle.de, a platform where users can discuss referee decisions in the Bundesliga.

2013: Transfermarkt.es is being launched in Spain. For iPhone users and Android users, an app is being launched in Germany.

2014: Transfermarkt.nl is being launched in the Netherlands and Portugal, too, receives its own site in the form of Transfermarkt.pt. Transfermarkt.de undergoes another major relaunch, featuring a responsive design. After significant work, the site undergoes its third major refresh, a technical and optical reconstruction.

In the following years, Transfermarkt continues to grow in Germany and around the world. While there were just three people working for the company in 2008, Seidel had eight coworkers in 2010 and 20 in 2017. Today, 130 people are working for the company – the Transfermarkt team at a glance.

2019: The internationalization of the Transfermarkt brand becomes a big focus, and the company has established itself in several markets, from the United States to Indonesia. Today, Transfermarkt has 27 international domains.

“The interest in Transfermarkt around the world is gigantic,” Transfermarkt Head of International, Christian Schwarz, said. “All of our international domains are growing, and we are gaining also users in countries in which we have no domains, yet. Today, Transfermarkt is definitely a global brand.”

2022: The next milestone: A player playing in the Baden-Württemberg Bezirksliga becomes player number 1,000,000 in the world’s largest free accessible football database in the world.

2024: The game between Fortuna Köln and Bayer Leverkusen on matchday 29 in the 1972/73 Regionalliga West season becomes match report number 2,000,000. “We can’t be more grateful to our Transfermarkt family,” founder Seidel said. “Transfermarkt’s most important assets are the users, admins, moderators, and datascouts. They are the ones who not only fill the forums with life but also ensure that every corner of the football world map is covered and that every player can be found in our database.”

2025: Founded as a hobby, Transfermarkt continues to set new milestones. Together, the TM-Domains receive more than 100 million visitors per month and generate over 500 million page impressions. The database includes more than 1.3 million player profiles and 2 million match reports. About 32 million users are reached on social media every day. “Social media has long been a central building block of our branding – 30 million new followers since 2019 highlight that Transfermarkt content works well when relevance, speed, and great design play together,” Transfermarkt Head of Marketing Fin Lübbers said.

25 years Transfermakt: TM celebrates with special content

A significant aspect of Transfermarkt’s identity is that, throughout the company’s history, people have been promoted from within – several members of the team are former community members. Christian Schwarz, one of the first registered users, wrote his magister’s thesis on Transfermarkt and is now the Head of International. Thomas Lintz, who registered as a user in 2005 to discuss Austrian football, rose to become the CEO of the company. Together with Simon Torrico, who joined in 2024, Lintz now manages the company. “Transfermarkt provides so many opportunities,” Torrico said. “We have a great team, a fantastic product, and enormous potential. Together with Thomas and the entire Transfermarkt team, I am looking forward to targeting new opportunities.”

Seidel, in the meantime, has left the company after 24 years. “I have occupied every role at the company,” Seidel said. “I was a computer engineer, graphic designer, journalist, SEO expert, UI designer, community manager, and bookkeeper. Every time I found someone competent who could fill one of those roles, I gave up that position to focus on new areas.” The founder continues to keep Transfermarkt in his heart. “The engagement and passion remain,” Seidel said. Together with all other users, he is looking forward to a great 25-year party.

Thank you for everything!