German TV channel Sat.1 to get slice of Bundesliga action

Virus Outbreak Germany Soccer Bundesliga

German TV channel Sat.1 has won the rights to show nine live soccer matches per season on its free-to-air channels from 2021, a source familiar with the rights auction said.

The Bundesliga will on Monday award national broadcast rights for the four seasons from 2021-22, with the value likely to decline from the previous agreement.

The bulk of the action will again be shown on pay TV broadcaster Sky, owned by U.S. group Comcast Corp, while sports streaming service DAZN will also pick up the rights to a large number of matches, according to sources close to the matter.

The Sat.1 games will be the only live matches on free to air — they will comprise three games from the top Bundesliga division, one second division match, the annual Supercup and four relegation playoff fixtures.

The new Bundesliga rights deal is expected to generate around 4.3 billion euros ($4.8 billion) in total.

The current four-year deal, which runs until the end of next season, is worth 4.6 billion euros, an 85% jump from the previous agreement. It covers TV, radio and online rights to matches played by the 36 clubs in the top two German divisions.