The German Football League (DFL) has secured an 85-per-cent rise in the value of its domestic media rights after international sports broadcaster Eurosport and pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland were unveiled today (Thursday) as the big winners in the tender process for its domestic club competitions.
The total value of the deals covering the top-tier Bundesliga, second-tier 2.Bundesliga and Supercup knockout competition over four seasons, from 2017-18 to 2020-21, is €4.64bn ($5.17bn).
In the pay-television section of the tender, Sky Deutschland has been awarded packages B to G, with Eurosport securing package A. Sky currently has all live rights to the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga across the 2013-14 to 2016-17 campaigns for an average of €485.7m per season.
However, a decision by Germany’s federal cartel office, the Bundeskartellamt, to implement a ‘no single buyer rule’ has weakened Sky’s position. Under its fresh deal, Sky will broadcast 572 live matches per season from 2017-18 to 2020-21 across all platforms.
The new deal means Sky will continue to broadcast 93 per cent of all live matches, including full live coverage of Bundesliga matches on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. For the first time, Sky will also become the exclusive live broadcaster for all matches of the 2.Bundesliga regular season, with an additional live match on Monday evenings.
Under the new agreement with the DFL, Sky said it will pay 32 per cent more in the 2017-18 season – the first year of the new contract – than in the final year of the existing agreement. Over the four years of the new agreement, the average rights fee per annum will be €876m, compared to an average of €486m per year under the existing contract.
Eurosport’s package of rights will include pay-television rights for games on Friday evenings, along with the Supercup and relegation play-off games. Among the free-to-air rights, public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF have secured packages I and M, and H and J, respectively. Sports broadcaster Sport1 has secured package K. Free-to-air packages L and N were not awarded, with the DFL stating that bids did not meet expectations.
Meanwhile, package O, which can be exploited on a pay or freely available platform, has been acquired by digital media company Perform. The package consists of highlights and clips rights.
The DFL’s new rights contracts are worth €1.16bn per season, with the league stating that it expects this figure to rise to at least €1.4bn per season once international rights are accounted for.
Commenting on the deals, DFL chief executive Christian Seifert said: “The tender result is an important step with a view to the future viability of Germany’s top football league. The league now has the best conditions and continues to be among the three top football leagues in the world. At the same time, the amounts invested are a great show of faith for the clubs.”
In addition, the DFL has awarded audio rights in Germany across the web/mobile category to Amazon. The DFL said the deal represents the first time the ecommerce giant has become a rights-owner of a major football league.