ZDF (Germany)

Last month’s Olympic Games sublicensing deal in Germany with ARD and ZDF has plugged a large gap in Discovery Communications’ revenue projections.

ARD and ZDF are close to a sublicensing deal with Discovery Communications for Olympic Games rights in Germany about nine months after negotiations between the parties broke down.    

Discovery Communications’ decision to end negotiations with Germany’s public-service broadcasters over the free-to-air rights for the Olympic Games will be a very expensive one.

Infront Sports & Media’s extension with the Finnish Ski Association, which goes well into the next decade, is part of a trend of long-term deals between the agency and other ski associations.

Uefa has failed to secure any meaningful uplift in value for its national team competitions in deals agreed recently in France and Germany. The deals underline that, while Europe remains the bedrock of value for Uefa, it has become a difficult region in which to achieve growth for its national team properties.

German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF are unlikely to change their position over free-to-air rights to the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games, despite being subjected to questions in parliament this month over their hard-line negotiating tactics.

David Svenson, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines television audiences in selected European markets for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Christian Seifert, chief executive of the German football league, told TV Sports Markets this week the latest domestic Bundesliga deals would entrench it as one of the world’s top three football leagues.

Germany’s football federation is set to earn about 35 per cent more from domestic media rights to its knockout cup competition, with deals to be announced in the coming weeks.

German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF will pay a smaller rights fee for the Alpine and Nordic World Ski Championships in 2019 and 2021 than they did for 2015 and 2017, following a deal agreed last week.

ARD and ZDF will pay a decent rights fee, plus broadcast sponsorship, for EuroBasket 2015 rights in Germany - with value driven by the country hosting some matches.

Mike Kiernan, analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, reviews the most-watched events of 2014 in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The German football federation, the Deutscher Fußball-Bund, last week secured a small fee increase for a host of rights in a renewal with public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

Mike Kiernan, Analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, looks at television audiences in the major European markets and America for the 2014 Fifa World Cup

The World Cup rights deals signed by Fifa in the UK and Germany just before the current tournament kicked off confirmed the difficulties the governing body has had in securing decent fee increases in both markets and in Europe generally.