German soccer’s DFL body has been given the go-ahead to issue domestic media rights tender documents to interested parties for the next cycle after the country’s Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) officially ratified the scrapping of the no single-buyer rule.
As a result, the rights auction for the 2025-26 to 2028-29 period is now on course to begin in mid-April.
In late January, the Bundeskartellamt moved to lift the ban on the no single-buyer rule in principle, which has been in place for the best part of a decade.
It was introduced by the body in 2016 to make the competition attractive to a range of different broadcasters by reducing the possibility of exclusivity. During recent cycles, rights are legally required to be split between media partners, but that will now change.
Previously, the no single-buyer rule has also been applied for sporting tenders in markets such as the UK and Italy.
The DFL set the tender process in motion in mid-January by asking interested firms to register.
However, the league could not send the tender documents to all approved companies until the Bundeskartellamt had made its final ruling, which came yesterday (February 26).
Steffen Merkel, DFL managing director, said: “We are very pleased about the final approval by the Federal Cartel Office for the concept of our media rights tender after a very intensive review.
“The approval of the model planned by the DFL - in particular the abolition of the ban on single-occupancy that was called for in the past - puts the allocation of media rights on a legally secure foundation and is a strong basis for a good tender.”
In terms of the specific tender packages on offer, four of the live rights packages (which can now be sold to a single buyer, although this is not compulsory) are for pay-TV, two are technology-neutral covering the second-tier Bundesliga 2, and one is for free-to-air (FTA) rights to at least nine live games across the whole portfolio (from both leagues, the Supercup, and the post-season relegation playoffs).
The rights lots will in total cover 617 matches per season, while there are also three audio rights packages on offer, as well as one covering ‘digital out of home.’
In the current 2021-22 to 2024-25 rights cycle, domestic live rights to Bundesliga action are shared between pay-TV giant Sky Deutschland, streaming heavyweight DAZN, ProSiebenSat.1, and Sport1. These deals are worth, in total, around €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) annually.
In addition, new highlights rights packages have also been created, that can be used as early as Monday following the weekend’s action. One of these will focus on digital platforms, including the broadcasting of 90-second clips.
This is added onto the pay-TV rights for highlight clips following the final whistle from all matches, while the DFL has also said that there may be opportunities during the next cycle for social media clips to be posted during games.
