German bidding war about to begin

By European Football
November 1 2005

The bids for the rights to show Bundesliga games has started a bidding frenzy between the country's leading TV stations for the television rights to the 2006/07 season.

As it stands the DFL collects 302 million euros a season from television channels ARD, ZDF, DSF and pay-per-view channel Premiere for the Bundesliga and the German second division but they have decided that is not enough, and if they want to compete with the leagues in England, Spain and Italy TV revenue will have to be maximised.

DFL president Werner Hackman stated:

"The TV rights are the most important financial source for the clubs that we have."

"In comparison to other leagues in Europe the Bundesliga is very traditional with only two match days while other leagues use up to four days. That is part of the reason why the Bundesliga has the lowest pay TV income in Europe."

They are looking to boost their figures to around 450 million euro and the traditional German way of seven games on a Saturday and two on a Sunday, will have to change, with perhaps a Bundesliga match on Friday night and a live 'match of the day' on Saturday evening, as possible options.