New plans for TV rights
There are no longer any DFL guarantees for the “Sportschau”.
January 3, 2024, 11:18 a.m
How can the Bundesliga be brought to women and men in the future? Various scenarios are being played out at the DFL. There are no longer any guarantees for an institution; Formula 1 should provide inspiration.
The heads of the German Football League (DFL) left the future of the Bundesliga open in the ARD “Sportschau” on Saturday evening. With a view to the allocation of national TV rights from the 2025/26 season, there is “no guarantee of existence for any time slot, format or channel,” said DFL co-managing director Steffen Merkel to “Sport Bild”.
So far, ARD has been broadcasting the summaries of the first and second division games on free TV on Saturday evenings from 6:30 p.m. – parallel to the Bundesliga evening game. Two scenarios have been submitted to the Federal Cartel Office, “one with a transmission window as we know it today. Which could go to the ARD ‘Sportschau’, but also to other free-to-air channels,” said Merkel, plus “a later transmission window of 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
It is “clear that ARD, with ‘Sportschau’, has been the Bundesliga’s longest-standing partner since it was founded in 1963,” the DFL boss continued. The fact that there are no guarantees before the award in the second quarter of this year is “in the nature of an open tender”. There is “widespread interest in a more compact use in the free area on Saturday evening”.
More insights, not just for “hardcore fans”
In order to further develop the broadcasts, the DFL is also planning deeper insights into the teams. There needs to be “significantly more closeness than before,” said Merkel, but it is not about “completely switching the lever to entertainment, following the example of the US leagues.” Instead, he cited short interviews with players after the bus arrived, images from a camera installed in the dressing room and more access to the teams during the week as examples.
A league-wide documentary based on the example of the Netflix series “Drive to Survive” about Formula 1 is also part of the plan. This is “incredibly popular, not only appeals to hardcore fans, but has also brought many new fans to Formula 1 globally. That’s what we would also expect from a possible Bundesliga documentary,” said Merkel.