Saran Media Group, the prominent Turkish media operation, has acquired exclusive domestic rights to German soccer’s top-tier Bundesliga for the next four seasons.
The long-term agreement will begin at the start of the 2025-26 season and run through the 2028-29 campaign.
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Saran will replace international pay-TV giant BeIN Sports, which has held rights in Turkey since the 2021-22 season.
The new deal marks the Bundesliga's return to Saran, which previously held the rights (before BeIN) for two seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21).
The Turkish sports media heavyweight will be showing Bundesliga and second-tier Bundesliga 2 matches across its S Sports platforms.
There is local interest in the Bundesliga as the league has the highest number of Turkish players currently in the top five European leagues, including Atakan Karazor (VfB Stuttgart), Salih Özcan (Borussia Dortmund), and Can Uzun (Eintracht Frankfurt).
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By GlobalDataPeer Naubert, managing director and chief marketing officer of Bundesliga International, has said: “Turkish players have a history of shining in the Bundesliga, from Halil Altintop, the highest-scoring Turkish player in league history, to Frankfurt's rising star Can Uzun.
“Building upon this rich heritage, and leveraging the current crop of national team players starring in the Bundesliga, we have become the fastest-growing of the top five European leagues when it comes to fan interest in Turkey.”
Last month, the Bundesliga partnered with five broadcasters across nine Eastern European markets – including Russia – through the 2028-29 season.
Those deals were brokered by international sports marketing agency Infront (with which the Bundesliga International arm struck a deal to this effect in May last year).
In terms of the Bundesliga’s domestic partners for the next cycle, live rights will be split between pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland, and the DAZN sports streaming service, with the total value of those tie-ups (as well as rights for highlights and short clips) over the next four seasons coming to $1.17 billion per campaign.
Other markets in which the Bundesliga has deals running past next season include Spain (DAZN), sub-Saharan Africa, Poland (Eleven Sports), and Hungary (Network4).
Saran, meanwhile, also holds rights in Turkey to Spain’s LaLiga and Italy’s Serie A.
BeIN’s three-year deal for the English Premier League also expires at the end of this season, with Saran likely to be in the mix to reclaim another major soccer property.
Saran held Premier League rights in Turkey between 2007 and 2022 – and has also secured deals with the English top-flight in Romania and a range of Eastern European and Central Asian territories over the past year.
In 2024, Saran also acquired rights in the country to UEFA national team soccer tournaments for the 2024-2028 cycle to bolster its portfolio.
