Sweden-based media and entertainment company Viaplay Group has extended its rights to Danish men’s soccer’s top-tier Superliga for a further six seasons, while Danish commercial broadcaster TV2 has also snapped up rights during the next cycle.
As part of the deal, there will be live coverage of the league on the Viaplay streaming service and Viaplay Group’s TV channels until the end of the 2029-30 campaign, as well as on both TV2's linear channels and its own TV2Play streaming option.
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This will involve three live matches being shown on Viaplay per week from the 2024-25 season onwards, as currently Viaplay and Warner Bros. Discovery share Superliga rights until the end of 2023-24.
TV2 will broadcast the first-choice, fourth-choice, and sixth-choice games in one gameweek, and then the second, third, and fifth selections the next match day. Viaplay will take the other fixtures from the 12-team league.
The deal also includes the rights to all matches from Denmark’s second-tier 1. Division, and covers Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
The agreement extends the partnership between Danish soccer's top tier and Viaplay beyond 30 years, while it brings TV2 back into the fold after a lengthy period in the wilderness in terms of Superliga rights.
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By GlobalDataJørgen Madsen Lindemann, Viaplay Group president and chief executive, said: “We have been home to Danish soccer since 1998 and are proud to secure this key property until the next decade. The Superliga is an attractive competition with passionate fans and proven commercial possibilities.”
Frederik Lauesen, sports director at TV2, added: “This is a day of joy for us at TV2. The Superliga has long been at the top of our wish list, as the rights contain everything we would like to stand for on TV2. It is Danish. It is close to our viewers and users. And that means that we will soon get even more around the large Danish communities that are around the clubs in the Superliga.”
Claus Thomsen, chief executive of the Superliga, commented, meanwhile: “We are delighted that Viaplay Group will continue as a Superliga broadcast partner for another six years."
“Viaplay Group’s technical innovation and commercial focus make them a valued partner and a very important contributor to the development of Danish soccer, and we are confident that together we can add even more value to the product.
"We are delighted that Danish professional club soccer's strongest partner of all time, Viaplay, will continue, while TV2 will return after a long break and will once again broadcast the best of Danish club soccer."
Danish soccer's Divisionsforeningen league body began the tender process for the next domestic rights cycle in mid-March.
Viaplay Group’s soccer portfolio in Denmark includes the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and Bundesliga, and is available through a Viaplay subscription, as well as via distribution partnerships with all major Danish telecom and TV operators.
Last week, it was reported that the Superliga had established a TV production subsidiary, alongside Swedish firm DMC Production.
Nordic media has reported that the new company’s purpose will be to "produce, commercialize, distribute, and sell, sports entertainment, sports data and media licenses, and other related business."
The deal comes amid financial difficulties for the Viaplay Group, with the pan-European broadcast heavyweight letting 25% of its workforce go as part of a new strategy that also involves a significant downsizing of its international market presence, including ending all services in the UK, the US, and Canada.
