Sport1 picks up Basketball Bundesliga, ESL event rights

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has acquired rights for the country’s Basketball Bundesliga and sealed a deal to show the ESL One Frankfurt 2016 esports event.

The sublicensing deal for the Basketball Bundesliga was secured with the Deutsche Telekom telecommunications company and will cover two seasons, from 2016-17 to 2017-18.

The agreement includes exclusive live free-to-air coverage of up to 48 games per campaign, featuring 34 regular-season contests and 14 playoff match-ups. The deal also covers highlights and clip rights on all platforms.

Sport1 has offered coverage of the league since 2009.

The deal for ESL One Frankfurt 2016 was secured directly with esports event operator ESL.

Sport1 will show live free-to-air coverage of the finale of the event from 8pm on June 19 on television after offering coverage of the earlier stages of the competition online from June 17. Sport1 will show a total of 30 hours of live coverage of the event across its platforms.