FC Bayern soon live more often on free TV?
Bundesliga before a change of heart
Created: 05/04/2022, 13:10
By: Christoph Klaucke
Bundesliga on free TV: Good news for all football fans who don't have a pay TV subscription.
The DFL is probably planning to show more live games free of charge.
Munich/Frankfurt – Less pay TV, more free TV: Football fans in Germany have been asking for this for a long time – and decision-makers could soon hear them.
The German Football League (DFL) is planning the future of the Bundesliga.
The most important finding: the Bundesliga should have more presence on free TV again.
This means that the games of the German record champions FC Bayern could be shown more frequently on public television again.
Soccer Bundesliga |
Current champion: FC Bayern Munich |
Foundation: July 28, 1962, Dortmund |
Pay TV: DAZN and Sky |
Free TV: SAT.1 (nine live games) |
Bundesliga: More live games on free TV – FC Bayern is also involved
The 36 German professional clubs in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga made a loss of over one billion euros as a result of the corona pandemic.
That's why the DFL is thinking about not being completely left behind in an international comparison.
It's about the further development and competitiveness of the Bundesliga.
For this purpose, a strategy working group was founded around the new DFL boss Donata Hopfen and Jan-Christian Dreesen, board member at FC Bayern Munich.
According to
Sport Bild
, the working group consists of Hopfen and Dreesen from Oliver Leki (SC Freiburg), Rüdiger Fritsch (Darmstadt 98) and Axel Hellmann (Eintracht Frankfurt).
Consideration is being given to bringing the Bundesliga back to free TV with the sale of the national TV rights from the 2025/26 season.
Bundesliga: Subscription madness in pay TV - secret plan for free TV rights
The reason for the turnaround: Live football is becoming more and more hidden in pay TV, so interest is falling.
Most fans have long lost track of where their favorite club is shown.
Sky and DAZN are currently broadcasting the Bundesliga against payment, Sat.1 had secured the rights package E with nine live games on free TV.
It includes, among other things, the opening games of the Bundesliga and 2nd division as well as the relegation.
FC Bayern Bundesliga games could soon be seen more often live on free TV.
© Michael Weber/Imago
Even internationally, viewers have to choose between several subscriptions.
The Champions League, for example, can currently only be seen live on DAZN and Amazon Prime for a fee, the Europa League and the Conference League run on RTL or its paid service RTL+.
In the future, at least for the Bundesliga, it seems that reach will come before sales.
In the future, the Bundesliga should also move more into free TV abroad in order to win new fans.
Bundesliga on free TV: DFL plans for the future
However, the DFL is reluctant to comment.
"It is important to continue to develop German professional football from a position of strength, along its values and traditions, and to make it future-proof," it said.
“We have started a multi-stage process for this, which is still in its infancy.
In this, future scenarios for the league are worked out.”
The DFL didn't get any more specific: "It's about looking at what paths there are, which ones could be viable and which ones not.
Because we cannot and do not want to implement everything that is feasible.” The DFL is also examining whether to rely on an investor based on the foreign model.
However, the 50+1 rule should remain untouched in all models.
The new DFL managing director made her first big appearance in a football stadium on Sunday in the Allianz Arena.
Donata Hopfen presents FC Bayern with the championship trophy after the game against Stuttgart.
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