'German Football League'; often shortened to DFL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Die Liga – Fußballverband.

Since then, the Ligaverband has been the sole shareholder of the DFL, which has provided the capital stock in the amount of €1 million.

The organisation is a subsidiary of the Ligaverband, which acts as a representative for the 36 professional clubs in the top two leagues of German football.

Bundesliga are operated by the DFL, but jointly hosted by the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund, DFB) and the Ligaverband.

In doing so, the DFL will examine the extent to which the individual clubs fulfill the requirements for participation in the professional football competitions.

The list of requirements includes sporting, financial, legal, infrastructural, personnel, administrative, media, and safety-related criteria.

The organisation aims, among other things, to centrally combine and represent the interests of the professional leagues and their common views before FIFA and other institutions engaged in sports and politics.