Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 8y

German football sees 85 percent rise in domestic TV deal

The German Football League (DFL) has announced an 85 percent rise for its new domestic TV deal, which will generate €4.64 billion for the nation's top two divisions.

The four-year deal for Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga screening rights, is worth €1.159bn per season and will begin in the 2017-18 season.

Eurosport, a paid subscription service, has entered the market for the first time and has secured the rights to exclusively broadcast 43 matches per season over the course of the deal. It will predominantly screen the Bundesliga's Friday night matches as well as the new Monday night games.

Most of the pay-TV rights will remain with Sky, the current Bundesliga partner, and three matches -- the season opener, the Friday game on matchday 17 and the first match of the second half of the season -- will be broadcast live on free-to-air station ZDF.

Speaking at a news conference, DFL CEO Christian Seifert said that an increase in revenue from the international Bundesliga rights will raise income further and is likely to top €1.4bn a year.

"The result of the deal is an important step in reference to the future viability of German top-level football," Seifert added. "The Bundesliga now has the best preconditions to continue to be one of three football leagues in the world with the highest turnover."

DFL president Reinhard Rauball said the new rights deal "is good news for German professional football," and added that the exact allocation of the €4.64bn will be decided next season.

It was announced last week that La Liga's professional clubs shared €1.2bn this season for audio-visual rights, while Premier League clubs shared £1.6bn (€2.09bn) including prize money. 

The 20 Premier League clubs will share £5.136bn (€6.562bn) between them for the 2016 to 2019 period. 

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