The German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) has extended its rights deal with sports broadcaster Sport1 and has agreed a new partnership with Telekom Sport, the pay-television platform telco Deutsche Telekom.
The agreement signed today (Tuesday) will see Sport1 and Telekom Sport broadcast all matches of the German national team through 2024. Sport1 had previously extended its rights deal with the DEB through the 2017-18 season under an agreement signed in October 2014.
The DEB said Telekom Sport will provide games free-to-air, with the new contract between the three parties commencing with this year’s Deutschland Cup, which takes place from November 8-11. Sport1 and Telekom Sport will share Germany’s games in the tournament, while the latter will also broadcast the three additional matches featuring Russia, Slovakia and Switzerland.
The contract includes a further six international matches per year. In future, match highlights will be shown during the game via the DEB’s social media channels, while game summaries will follow shortly after the end of each match.
Today’s agreement has been signed after Germany’s men won a silver medal at the 2018 winter Olympic Games. It also includes a comprehensive marketing component through which Deutsche Telekom will receive branding on the trousers of the national team, among other rights.
Olaf Schröder, chief executive of Constantin Medien and Sport1, said: “The national team has celebrated the biggest success of its history this year and kindled a huge enthusiasm for ice hockey in Germany. The future prospects of the DEB team are also promising. Together with Telekom, we will give the Olympic heroes on all media platforms the long-term stage that they deserve.”