India is the first market in which the German Football League (DFL) has gone direct to consumer with its Bundesliga Pass live on the OneFootball app in the country, SportBusiness has learned.
India has been described by sources close to the deal between the league, its international commercial arm Bundesliga International and the OneFootball media platform as a ‘proof of concept’.
For now, only 2. Bundesliga matches are being shown on Bundesliga Pass in India, with more markets set to come on board. That is expected to include countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where the league retained non-exclusive digital rights when it struck a host of free-to-air and pay-television deals in August with the likes of Azam TV, StarTimes and SABC.
Top-tier Bundesliga matches will also be incorporated “sooner, rather than later” onto Bundesliga Pass, SportBusiness has been told.
As rights contracts expire, the DFL and Bundesliga International will look to grow Bundesliga Pass’ footprint either as a standalone product or as a complement to traditional broadcasters.
Plans for Bundesliga Pass were first unveiled at a DFL general assembly in 2019. It was to be used in dark markets or in development markets alongside broadcast. It would stream all Bundesliga games live. The provisional price was €7.99 ($7.43) per month, but the idea was for pricing to be market specific.
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The DFL had hoped to finance its Bundesliga Pass DTC concept through its bid to take on private equity investment – around €1bn for an eight-per-cent stake in a new commercial vehicle – but those plans were finally ended earlier this year by continued fan revolt.
Undeterred, the league has continued to develop the DTC product in-house and in the summer signed an agreement with OneFootball to use its technology to roll out the offering in India initially.
OneFootball is a long-serving partner of the DFL, having streamed Bundesliga matches free on its platform in Brazil since aligning with the Sportfive agency in 2020-21. The current three-year agreement runs to 2025-26.
Exclusive Bundesliga linear rights across the Indian subcontinent are held by pay-television operator Sony Pictures Networks India, which extended its deal last year for the 2023-26 cycle. That agreement covers India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Maldives.
India is of major commercial interest to the DFL given the size of the market.
Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Bundesliga International extended its content partnership with Khel Now, the Indian digital media engagement platform, for another year. With more than one million subscribers on its YouTube channel, Khel Now highlights the biggest talking points from Germany’s top two divisions each week, with content in both English and Hindi.
In September 2022, the DFL signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Super League (ISL), while Bundesliga teams have established partnerships with ISL clubs, including Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig with Hyderabad FC and FC Goa, respectively. This April, the inaugural edition of the Bundesliga Dream India project launched to further promote the development of young Indian grassroot football talent.
In August, OneFootball was contracted by the German Football Association (DFB) to carry its DFB Play over-the-top streaming platform. It live streams matches on a pay-per-view basis from the men’s and women’s DFB Pokal, men’s third-tier 3. Liga, women’s Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga and Women’s Supercup, as well as home matches of the women’s national team and U21 and U19 internationals.