SportA, the sports rights agency for ARD and ZDF, has agreed a deal with sports broadcaster Sport1 to extend the German public-service broadcasters’ coverage of the Handball Bundesliga through the 2016-17 season.
Under the terms of the deal with Sport1, the rights-holder to the Bundesliga, ARD and ZDF will provide highlights of the competition’s regular season matchdays, along with the Final 4 tournament for the DHB Cup, the Super Cup and All Star Game.
The contract will also allow for Handball Bundesliga coverage in the ZDF Sportreportage and ARD Sportschau magazine programmes and includes rights to the competition’s second tier- the 2. Handball Bundesliga.
Bundesliga chief executive Frank Bohmann said: “The increase in reporting and the upward trend in ratings indicate that the popularity and the market value of handball is still large. Both will be further enhanced through additional strategic online collaboration activities.”
SportA last month secured a two-year sublicensing deal with telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom for rights to the Basketball Bundesliga, the top division of the sport in Germany.
The deal with Deutsche Telekom, the Bundesliga’s rights-holder, covered the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons of the league.