Fox Strikes Multiyear Bundesliga Soccer Deal

Twenty-First Century Fox and the Deutsche Fussball Liga, Germany’s soccer-league organization, have struck a multiyear TV-rights deal for Bundesliga soccer games on Fox properties across North and South America, Europe and Asia.

Included in the deal for German’s top-level soccer league are U.S. networks Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Sports 2Go and Fox Soccer 2Go. Gol TV is the current U.S. rights-holder.

The deal, which does not take effect until the 2015-2016 season, spans five years in Asia and the Americas and two years for Europe. It includes all 306 season matches, including playoffs. Fox also gets digital distribution rights, including authenticated online TV services.

The agreements cover 80 countries/territories and involve Fox International Channels, Fox Sports and Sky Italia. Fox will get "exclusive rights, subject to certain reserved rights, to the Bundesliga in the Americas and Asia -- excluding India and the Oceania region -- as well as Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.