The Setanta Sports pay-TV broadcaster has expanded and extended its rights deal with German men’s soccer’s top-tier Bundesliga for the next rights cycle.
Setanta has renewed rights in 10 Eurasian countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan) from 2024-25 to the end of 2028-29, and has also added rights in three Baltic markets (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia), specifically for the 2024-25 season in that case.
The network has been the broadcast rights partner for German soccer’s top tier in those Eurasian markets since 2015 - the last extension was unveiled in October 2020 - but across the Baltics, the league’s current rights holder is financially embattled European broadcaster Viaplay, which is now pulling back into its key Nordic markets and downsizing its operations elsewhere (in December, it confirmed it would exit the Baltics by mid-2025).
Indeed, Viaplay had actually struck a deal for its Baltic Bundesliga rights to be extended to 2029, in 2021 - this one-season swwop by Setanta, therefore, is likely to have been struck as a place-holder while the league searches for a more permanent home for its Baltic rights for the four-year cycle after that.
Adding another trio of markets for 2024-25 represents a significant boost for Setanta, which only launched in the Baltics in 2022.
In addition to the top league, Setanta will also cover the second-tier Bundesliga 2 in the 13 countries.
The deal has been struck by Bundesliga International, the 18-team league’s global commercial rights arm.
Peer Naubert, chief marketing officer at Bundesliga International, has said: “Our partnership with Setanta Sports is already well-established and is built on a strong foundation of mutual trust and a shared vision: to deliver a world-class product to fans around the world. Furthermore, we are delighted that this extension takes us beyond 10 years of working together in a region that we have a very close and special relationship with.”
The last major overseas Bundesliga rights deal was unveiled in late November, when Coupang Play, the streaming service run by the South Korean e-commerce giant, announced a tie-up.
The league is now coming towards the end of its sales process for the next international media rights cycle.
Indeed, the DFL league body has begun the process of selecting its domestic broadcast partner/s for the next cycle, which for the German market begins in 2025-26. In late January, a ban on those rights being sold to only one buyer was scrapped.
Bacha Malazonia, Setanta Sports Eurasia's chief visionary officer, added: “It is a great pleasure to secure the rights for an additional four seasons up to the end of 2028-29 across the region. Setanta Sports is also particularly pleased to have been able to expand the reach of Bundesliga on our platforms and become the new home of Bundesliga in the Baltics.”
November saw Setanta Sports enter into an exclusive partnership with streaming giant Netflix in 13 countries.
The deal involves a new joint bundle offering called Fan Pack, allowing subscribers to access both Setanta Sports and Netflix content with one subscription fee.
