The rankings and awards were decided according to the Family Experience Score (FES). Customer responses from a Germany-wide survey on eight concrete performance achievements were totted up with 731 companies from 73 areas of business being ranked as family-friendly on a scale of 0 to 100.
Bayer 04 received an FES of 76.3 putting them second in the ranking of German clubs – just behind Borussia Mönchengladbach and ahead of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. All 18 Bundesliga clubs were rated.
“The award is appreciation for the members of staff at Bayer 04,” declared Fernando Carro, the Bayer 04 CEO. “We have always paid close attention to being family-friendly. And that will remain so in the future.”
On the evaluation system:
The Family Experience Score (FES) was developed in association with the Institute for Psychology at the Goethe-University in Frankfurt am Main. To assess the family-friendliness of companies, a representative group of customers, living in households with one or more children, were presented with the following eight statements:
1. The range of products and services is designed for families and children.
2. The staff are friendly to families and children.
3. I feel in good hands there with my child.
4. Additional provision is made for families and children (e.g. range of games).
5. The environment is suitable for families and children.
6. Statements and promises made to families and children are adhered to.
7. Needs of families and children are met.
8. There is value for money for families and children.
The people surveyed rated each statement according to a five-stage scale. The FES was calculated as an average of all the statements with each statement being weighted the same. That produced the rankings with the overall result for the individual companies being represented in index points on a scale of 0 (zero approval) to 100 (complete approval).
A fresh look for the BayArena: The Bayer 04 stadium will have new seating in the form of folding seats for the 2026/27 campaign that will ensure significantly improved seating comfort and simplified movement within the rows of seats. As part of routine replacement after 17 years, fans of the Werkself were able to purchase the existing seats, used to witness the first German league title in the club's history. In addition, a large proportion of the seats will be donated to charitable projects, primarily in the local region. Bayer 04 fans can look forward to new, functional folding seats for the season opener at the beginning of August - still in the club colours of black and red, of course. A glimpse at the BayArena during the refurbishment.
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On Monday evening, 8 June, around 250 people came to the Bürgerhaus Baumberg at the invitation of Bayer 04 to find out details of the new plans for the campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße at an information event. More compact, greener and with many advantages for Monheim am Rhein - those are the aims. There were lively discussions for around three hours and some misunderstandings were cleared up.
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Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and Bayer 04 loanee Francis Onyeka are part of Germany's final squad for the U19 European Championships this summer. The tournament is in Wales from 24 June to 12 July.
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When Malik Tillman arrived at Bayer 04 Leverkusen from PSV Eindhoven last summer, he did more than just add attacking midfield strength to the team — he reconnected the club with a unique and understated American lineage that stretches back more than three decades.
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Bayer 04 are away to third-division club SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal. That was the outcome of the draw on Saturday night, 6 June, at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. The Werkself first round tie will be played between 21 and 24 August. The exact date has yet to be finalised.
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