Subscription TV network Sky Mexico has agreed a two-year deal to become the home of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga in Mexico and Central America ahead of the 2020-21 season.
As part of the agreement, which was struck with Bundesliga International, the league’s commercial rights arm, Sky Mexico holds the rights to exclusively broadcast three Bundesliga matches each match day within Mexico, as well as non-exclusive access to the other six matches taking place.
In addition, Sky Mexico will also launch a channel dedicated to its Bundesliga coverage, featuring regular shoulder programming and match highlights.
The agreement ensures that Sky Mexico will, more broadly, show live Bundesliga action every matchday, as well as the German Supercup and the promotion/relegation play-off matches.
Fox Sports held the Bundesliga rights in Mexico and Central America from 2015-16 to 2019-20 as part of an 80-territory deal across various international territories.
Bundesliga International chief executive Robert Klein said today: “From Pável Pardo to Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández and Marco Fabian, the last 20 years have seen a number of fantastic Mexican players make their mark on the Bundesliga. Working alongside Sky Mexico, we have a great opportunity to further showcase the fast, free-flowing football of the Bundesliga, and inspire the next generation of Mexican talent.”
Meanwhile, pay-television broadcaster Sportsnet has announced it has acquired exclusive rights to the Bundesliga in Canada for the 2020-21 season.
In 2015, Sportsnet agreed a five-season sublicensing deal with Fox Sports, running from 2015-16 to 2019-20 to match the length of the Fox deal as the US-based broadcaster did not have a presence in Canada.
Canadian interest in the Bundesliga has risen on the back of the popularity of Bayern Munich’s star Canadian full-back Alphonso Davies.
In addition to game broadcasts, Sportsnet will also be airing Bundesliga Highlights, a 60-minute recap of all that week’s matchups, and Bundesliga Weekly, a magazine show with stories, profiles and features from around the league.
The Bundesliga has secured a number of international media-rights deals in the past few weeks, including public-service broadcaster SABC in South Africa, the African arm of French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus in sub-Saharan Africa, plus a series of deals in Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
Meanwhile, OneFootball, the Germany-based digital platform, has teamed up with the Sportfive agency to broadcast Bundesliga matches free of charge via its app in Brazil.
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