Sportdigital adds football content

German sports broadcaster Sportdigital has enhanced its football portfolio by adding rights for English and Argentinean competitions ahead of the coming season, according to the Digitalfernsehen news website.

Sportdigital will broadcast the English second-tier Championship and Capital One Cup competitions, along with the Argentinean Primera Division.

The deals come as the broadcaster’s efforts to establish a US sports-focused channel appear to have been dashed.

Sportdigital was last month granted a 10-year licence for its proposed US sports-dedicated television channel by the German Commission for Licensing and Supervision.

However, commercial sports broadcaster Sport1’s announcement that it will launch a new US sports pay-television channel in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on August 1, complete with a raft of new US sports content, has reportedly stifled Sportdigital’s ambitions.

The proposed launch of Sportamerica HD had depended on the acquisition of US sports rights.