German media company ProSiebenSat.1 has acquired rights for the Virtual Bundesliga, the esports football competition that is operated by the German Football League (DFL).
The rights will be exploited on the ProSiebenMaxx free-to-air channel.
The deal was brokered by the 7Sports agency, a subsidiary of ProSiebenSat.1, and will run for nine weeks from January 17.
Under the agreement, ProSiebenMaxx will show live coverage of a Virtual Bundesliga match at 8.15pm local time on Thursdays. The coverage will be followed by the Smackdown wrestling entertainment programme at 10.00pm.
Daniel Rosemann, the head of ProSiebenMaxx, said: “Esports excites our young male target group…and we will be showing matches in prime time.”
Sport1, the DFL’s most recent rights partner for the Virtual Bundesliga, plans to launch a 24-hour pay-television esports channel next month.