No buyer for package
Nasty surprise for DFB when allocation of rights to the trophy
10.06.2025 – 1:08 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The DFB Cup always offers exciting twists. However, the association had not counted on the allocation of rights.
The DFB faces an unexpected problem: For 30 live games of the DFB Cup, no buyer was found at the last auction-a considerable setback for the association. Although the traditional competition on free TV always delivers high ratings, the second large rights package remained unsuccessful.
Only the ARD secured a package with 30 games. For the second package, which also includes 30 games, the DFB did not go far enough for the DFB. “Due to not an economically adequate offer”, the offers received at the beginning of May was rejected, the association said.
This leads to a financial gap: According to estimates, around twelve million euros are missing per season in order to achieve the target of around 70 million euros annually. The marketing pressure on the DFB is growing. DFB Managing Director Holger Blask tried to relax the situation in an interview with the German press agency. There is no fixed time frame that one is “capable of action at short notice” and theoretically could also “wait until 2026”. The contract should include seasons 2026/27 to 2029/30.
There are several reasons that the package remained unsuccessful. Blask referred to falling advertising revenues for private channels such as RTL or ProSiebenSat.1 and the debates on the increase in broadcasting contributions in public service law. At the same time, the market is overcrowded – many sports rights are currently on offer in parallel.
ProSiebenSat.1 has recently invested in rights for handball, basketball and the club World Cup. ARD and ZDF meanwhile focus on the upcoming World Cup rights of men (2026) and women (2027).
In the next step, the DFB wants to act more flexibly. You are now “in free allocation,” said Blask. The association could talk to all interested parties – both about the existing package and possible new cuts.
In plain language: If no transmitter can be found for the entire package, it could be divided into smaller rights blocks. However, the DFB assures that the games should be broadcast on free TV. The Pay TV rights for all 63 games per season had already secured Sky.
There are also open questions at the DFB Cup of women. ARD, ZDF and Sky each secured rights, but there was no customer for the conference. If no buyer can find themselves, the association wants to show them themselves on its own platforms.
The same also applies to the unsold men’s package in an emergency. The DFB keeps this option open on its website: You can create a “own media offer towards end consumers, possibly in cooperation with one or more partners”. Economically, however, this would be the weakest – and therefore the most unlikely – variant.