Watching football has become more complicated for years. Whether the situation will improve for fans is anything but clear, even after a groundbreaking decision on Tuesday.
Which channel shows which game at what time? Amazon or DAZN? DAZN or Sky? And where is the Europa League running again? Exactly, on RTL+.
The TV rights market in football has become confusing for casual and recreational viewers. If you want to enjoy the entire variety of sports, you now need several subscriptions. Only those who have a DAZN, Sky and an Amazon Prime subscription can see all games in the Champions League and the Bundesliga. Not to mention the Europa League (RTL+) or the 3rd league (Magenta Sport).
It’s good that there is at least a certain level of clarity when it comes to the TV rights to the Bundesliga. DAZN will show the games on Friday and Sunday, and Sky will be the home for Bundesliga fans on Saturday. But this division is history – at least from the 2025/2026 season.
Then the new four-year media rights cycle, which the DFL leadership announced on Tuesday in Hamburg, will take effect. The association also published the new package structure, i.e. the packages that interested TV broadcasters can purchase.
And this is what the packages look like:
- The Parallel Games Conference on Saturday afternoon (Package A)
- All individual games on Friday and Saturday afternoon (Package B)
- The top game on Saturday evening (Package C)
- The individual games on Sunday (Package D)
What is new here is that the Friday game has moved from package D to package B. The distribution of TV rights will by no means remain the same as before. On the contrary: things can get much worse.
Theoretically it is possible that packages A, B and C go to three different providers. In such a scenario, fans would need more subscriptions than before – even though a rule that has existed since 2012 will no longer apply: the no single buyer rule.
That regulation stated that it was not possible for a provider to purchase all four Bundesliga Pay Live packages. This ban on sole acquisition has now been overturned; according to its preliminary assessment, the Federal Cartel Office has decided not to “mandatorily integrate” the no-single-buyer rule into the concept of media rights tenders, as the DFL report states.
What does this mean for the fans? Theoretically, Sky/DAZN/Amazon could again acquire all rights to the Bundesliga on their own. The danger of a monopoly, which existed until the end of the 2016/2017 season (the entire Bundesliga on Sky/Premiere), now exists again. However, neither Sky nor DAZN are likely to be financially able to purchase all the packages on their own. The DFL currently earns an average of around 1.1 billion euros per season. The pay-TV providers Sky and DAZN pay more than 80 percent of this – together.
And even if a provider were to acquire the entire Bundesliga rights, the existing subscription prices, which are already a thorn in the side of many fans, could remain in place. The result: higher costs for subscribers – and even more anger in the comment columns.
How does it go from here? The application documents will be sent to the bidding companies in February. The auction process will start in mid-April. As soon as this is completed, the DFL will announce who will be awarded the contract. This should happen before the European Championships.