It should not come as a surprise that a large city like Berlin has plenty to offer when it comes to sports. There are many different tennis-courts, it’s easy to play beachvolleyball in the winter and also Padel is getting more and more popular. But what if you do not want to be too active yourself but rather just be a spectator and let the professionals do all the work. Spectating live sport events is a fun activity and there is plenty to choose from in Berlin.
Professional sport clubs in Berlin
Football is the most popular sport in Germany and therefore Berlin is often remembered for not having famous football-clubs. Hertha has not been performing well in the last few years and is in the second division at the moment. Union Berlin had a great run last year but things are not going too well in the season 2023/2024. But what people tend to forget is that Berlin has great sport-teams when it comes to basketball, ice-hockey and handball.
Below we suggest some nice live sport events in Berlin which you could go spectating.
Football: Hertha BSC
For a long time Hertha BSC was the #1 football-club in Berlin. The last couple of years this changed because the performances were not good enough. Still it’s an awesome activity to visit the Olympiastadion in the west of the city and enjoy a match of football. The Stadion has such a rich history and it’s easy to reach by train. Tickets start at 20€ and can be bought on the official website of Hertha BSC.
Football: Union Berlin
Union Berlin had such an impressive run the last couple of years. In 2018/2019 they were still playing 2nd Liga and at the moment they are playing in the Champions League. The atmosphere in the Stadion called An der Alten Försterei is phenomenal. You can really feel that you are between real Berliners in the east of Berlin. Because the stadium is usually sold out you need to sign up for a raffle and then you are able to buy a ticket. Tickets usually cost around 20-25€. More information can be found here.
Basketball: Alba Berlin
One of my personal favourite live sports to watch is basketball. Because so many more goals are scored, you will have so many more reasons to celebrate compared to football and ice-hockey. Alba Berlin is playing in the highest division and has won the title many times. The Mercedes Benz Arena is their home-court so you can easily reach this from station Warschauer Brücke. Afterwards it’s easy to go to a techno-club in Friedrichshain. Tickets start at 14,50€ already, check this website for more information.
Ice-Hockey: Berliner Eisbären
A sport you might not have seen live before is ice-hockey. If you have never seen it before, you can go and watch the Berliner Eisbären live in the Mercedes Benz Arena. This team is at the top of the table and the atmosphere in the stadium is awesome. Although the sport is rough, the people who go and watch a live-game of ice-hockey never fight or do the stupid stuff football-hooligans do. It’s just a fan game and a great activity for parents with children too. If you want to buy tickets, you can do it here on the Eisbären website.
Summary: Live sport in Berlin
Besides the above examples you can definitely also visit other live sport events in Berlin. It is great to visit a lower football-team for example. Also other sports like volleyball, rugby and tennis can be so much fun. What I personally like to do when I go into a stadium is put a bet on one of the teams: This makes the game just a bit more exciting in my opinion. At the moment I am sport betting at Lottoland because I got a good sign-up bonus there. Either way, watching professional teams perform sports with thousands of others is a great activity and Berlin is a great place for it.
