The German Football League (DFL) will seek talks with its stakeholders concerning the online highlights clips to the Bundesliga after pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland said it would offer online access to goals from the league.
In April 2012, German newspaper publisher Axel Springer made its first foray into Bundesliga coverage by acquiring rights for online highlights clips.
The clips will be shown on the Bild newspaper website on a pay-per-view basis from an hour after the end of the game, before becoming free at midnight on the day of the game.
The deal covers the four seasons from 2013-14 to 2016-17, but Sky, which acquired all live pay-television rights packages and mobile rights in last year’s tender, said it plans to offer access to Bundesliga goals immediately after the final whistle via its Sky Sports News app.
Responding to the development, the DFL said in a statement: “The media partners of the Bundesliga have purchased in the tender clearly defined rights. This also applies to the exclusive rights of Axel Springer. All packages contain specific permissions and limitations designed to ensure the respective exclusivities. These limits must be adhered to by all rights holders. Offering a separately bookable app that may directly after the game contains all the goals of the current match day, raises some questions in this regard. The DFL will seek to clarify this matter shortly in dialogue with stakeholders.”