By Mark Baber
October 16 – The DFL (German League Association) and Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox have agreed a new broadcast deal which will take the Bundesliga to more than 80 TV markets including Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, all of North and Latin America and much of Asia from the start of the 2015/16 season.
The agreements covering the Americas and Asia are for five seasons, beginning in 2015-16 and ending with the 2019-20 season. For the European nations, the deal spans the 2015-16 and the 2016-17 seasons. The rights sales do not include the Indian subcontinent but do cover English language programming in China.
No financial details of the agreement have been released, but the DFL has been aiming to double income from international rights deals. Overall turnover from the Bundesliga has risen from €1 billion in 2001-02 to more than €2 billion in 2011-12 with German clubs enjoying the highest average attendance per league game, well ahead of the Premier League. However, the Premier League remains the world’s richest league in terms of television revenue including overseas sales.
DFL chief executive Christian Seifert said: “These agreements confirm that the Bundesliga has legitimately evolved to become a top international sports media property. 21st Century Fox is a global-scale partner that provides German soccer opportunities for worldwide exposure and future growth. We welcome these agreements as an expression of faith in the Bundesliga’s continued development over the coming years.”
James Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox said: “Both on and off the pitch, the Bundesliga has grown to become one of the pre-eminent soccer leagues in the world. We look forward to partnering with the DFL over the next five years to leverage our unrivaled global portfolio of sports channels to bolster the Bundesliga brand in every corner of the globe.”
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