Brazilian commercial broadcaster Band is moving closer to agreeing a deal for free-to-air rights to the German Bundesliga, SportBusiness understands.
Bundesliga International, the league’s international commercial arm, is also understood to be seeking a pay-television broadcaster in the territory.
No deal is currently in place for the rights with the 2020-21 Bundesliga season to begin on September 18 as Bayern Munich face Schalke 04.
A deal with Band would run with a duration for three seasons (from 2020-21 to 2022-23), according to UOL in Brazil.
Pay-television broadcaster ESPN is also said to be interested in the Bundesliga rights. Fox Sports, which has merged with ESPN in Brazil, acquired the Bundesliga rights in Brazil from 2015-16 to 2019-20 as part of an 80-territory deal across various international territories.
Band’s proposal is understood to cover one match per matchweek to be exploited on its flagship free-to-air Band channel.
If a deal is completed, the Bundesliga would be the second major European football league Band will broadcast in the coming season after acquiring rights to the Italian Serie A in a one-season deal.
SportBusiness understands that Band will broadcast two Serie A matches per matchweek on its free-to-air channel and two matches on its pay-television channel.
With the Serie A deal done and a Bundesliga deal in Brazil close to completion, attention will turn to the Spanish LaLiga.
The top property, which includes the top two tiers of Spanish domestic football, is without a broadcaster after its five-season deal covering the 2015-16 to 2019-20 cycle.
Sources told SportBusiness that the territory is a key market for LaLiga and that negotiations are being handled by top executives at the Mediapro agency, which distributes rights to LaLiga internationally.