The German Football Association (DFB) has sealed rights deals for its domestic cup competition, the DFB-Pokal, with public-service broadcaster ARD, pay-television broadcaster Sky, sports broadcaster Sport1 and media company Axel Springer.
The deals announced today (Friday) are for the three seasons spanning 2019-20 to 2021-22 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and come following a tender process which ran from February 5 to March 15.
Seventeen companies had registered interest in the tender and DFB general secretary Friedrich Curtius said the new contracts represent a “significant increase” in value for the DFB-Pokal rights.
While ARD and Sky are long-term partners of the competition, Sport1 and Axel Springer enter the field for the first time.
ARD has acquired nine free-to-air live matches per season through its rights agency SportA. These matches include both semi-finals and the final. In addition, ARD will broadcast the women’s Pokal.
In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Sky will continue to broadcast all 63 matches per season.
From the first round through to the quarter-final there will be one top match provided free-to-air by Sport1 and live streamed by Sport1.de. The four-match package for Germany also includes free-to-air and digital highlights.
In addition, the tender included a clips package, which includes rights to all matches on digital platforms. Sky, Sport1 and Axel Springer will share this package.