The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga has announced a significant new media rights deal for the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, totaling €4.484 billion over the 2025-26 to 2028-29 seasons. This represents a €1.121 billion annual revenue for the 36 clubs involved, a roughly 2% increase compared to the previous cycle. DFL CEO Steffen Merkel stated, “The result of the tender underlines the unbroken popularity of German professional football, despite economically challenging times. Trust and unity within the league association have paid off. At the end of an intensive process, a very good and comprehensively secured financial result has now been achieved. The clubs now have planning security at a high financial level for another four years. For the fans, our future partners in both the pay and free-to-air markets will provide a high degree of consistency.”
The deal sees a continuation of the two-partner pay-TV model. Sky Deutschland will retain coverage of Friday and Saturday matches, including the Saturday evening top match, along with all Bundesliga 2 matches. DAZN will broadcast the Saturday conference and all Sunday Bundesliga matches, taking over rights previously held by Sky. Free-to-air coverage is significantly expanded. RTL will show the Bundesliga 2 Saturday evening match, while Sat.1 secures a package including season openers, relegation play-offs, and the Supercup.
Public broadcasters also secured significant portions. ARD will maintain its Sportschau program with highlights from Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 matches, while ZDF keeps its rights to secondary highlights and the first showing of top match highlights. Sport1 retains its Sunday morning highlight package, and RTL acquired the pay-TV rights for immediate post-match highlight clips. ZDF secured free-to-air highlight rights from Monday onwards, with Axel Springer acquiring newly introduced short clip rights. Finally, ARD secured both FM and web/mobile audio rights.