German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF agreed on the split of matches to broadcast from Uefa Euro 2012.
ARD will air Germany’s first match of the tournament against Portugal on Saturday, June 9, and the team’s final group game against Denmark on Sunday, June 17. ZDF will broadcast Germany’s second group game against fierce rival the Netherlands on Wednesday, June 13. All of Germany’s group games will kick off at 8.45pm German time.
ARD will broadcast the opening match and has first-choice pick of the semi-finals. ZDF will have first-choice pick of the quarter-finals and will broadcast the final exclusively.
ARD will broadcast 13 matches during the group stages in total; ZDF will air 11. ARD and ZDF paid a combined total of €120m ($160m) for the Euro 2012 rights, €5m higher what they paid for Euro 2008 – a tournament that saw Germany reach the final before losing to Spain.