RTL, Sky pick up remaining Bundesliga rights packages

Commercial broadcaster RTL and pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland have acquired the two remaining rights packages on offer for German football’s Bundesliga over the next four-season cycle, from 2017-18 to 2020-21.

RTL snapped up Monday evening free-to-air highlights of all 1.Bundesliga top-tier and 2.Bundesliga second-tier games. The programme will run from 10.15pm and midnight CET on the RTL Nitro channel.

Sky Deutschland will show highlights of the 2.Bundesliga on free-to-air television on Friday evenings between 10.30pm and midnight and Sundays between 7.30pm and 9.15pm. The coverage will be shown on Sky Sport News HD, which will switch to become a free-to-air channel in December.

The two packages were not awarded in the original auction as bids did not meet the reserve prices set by the DFL, the German Football League.

The values of the agreements were not disclosed. The total value of the deals covering the Bundesliga, 2.Bundesliga and Supercup knockout competition over the four seasons was €4.64bn ($5.2bn) before the latest packages were awarded.

Sky Deutschland will already have rights to 572 live matches per season. RTL's agreement means it will cover the Bundesliga for the first time since 1992.