ProSiebenSat.1 to steer clear of Bundesliga rights auction

German media company ProSiebenSat.1 will not submit an offer for the next cycle of domestic rights for the Bundesliga, but telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom has confirmed it will enter a bid to show coverage of the top division of football in the country.

ProSiebenSat.1 chief executive Thomas Ebeling said that acquiring the rights would not make financial sense for a company that relies on advertising rather than pay-television subscription revenue.

“Big sports rights are not economical for us,” he said after the company posted its financial results for 2015 yesterday (Thursday), according to the Reuters news agency.

However, Deutsche Telekom said that it planned to submit a bid in the tender, which is expected to be concluded by early June.

Pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland currently has all live domestic rights for the Bundesliga through to the end of the 2016-17 season, but the country has introduced a ‘no single buyer’ rule to ensure multiple broadcasters will have live rights in the next cycle.