German Football League (DFL) chief executive Christian Seifert has hinted that the Bundesliga could adopt a pan-European model when selling its next set of media rights.
An auction for the four seasons of the Bundesliga from 2017-18 to 2020-21 is expected by the middle of 2016. Speaking to German weekly Sport Bild, Seifert (pictured) was asked about the implications of the recent deal between the International Olympic Committee and US media company Discovery Communications that will bring coverage to the latter’s international sports channel Eurosport.
In June, Discovery acquired television and multi-platform rights in 50 European markets, including Germany, for four editions of the Olympic Games, from 2018 to 2024, in a deal valued at €1.3bn ($1.46bn).
Seifert said the DFL is thinking about new ways in which Bundesliga rights could be marketed. He told Sport Bild: “It is entirely true that we are currently dealing with the question of which models are there to assign rights in Germany and throughout Europe, and whether combinations may be useful.”