Football Partnerships

Walt Disney-owned ESPN has added Bundesliga and Major League Soccer matches to its UK rights portfolio as it prepares to launch there this summer.

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DFL Sports Enterprises has completed deals with three broadcasters to show Bundesliga games in Brazil for the next three seasons.

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German Borussia Dortmund (BVB) is to play against Spanish Real Madrid in a friendly match on August 19, 2009 at Dortmund’s SIGNAL IDUNA PARK.

BVB’s longstanding marketing partner SPORTFIVE made the footballing highlight possible. The exact kick-off time is still to be announced.

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By Jörn Krieger

As reported by Rapid TV News, German pay-TV operator Premiere will market its bouquets under the name Sky after its relaunch in July. The management board, with approval from the supervisory board, has decided to discontinue the use of the brand Premiere. The value of the Premiere trademark will therefore be written off in the second quarter with a negative impact on net income of €256.1 million.

Subject to approval by shareholders at the annual general meeting, the name of the company will be changed from Premiere AG to Sky Deutschland AG. According to a press release issued by the Munich-based broadcaster, the decision to launch a new service under the Sky brand is part of the management’s commitment to focus the business on its customers and to raise the bar of pay-TV in Germany and Austria. Details of the new pricing and package structure will be announced at the beginning of June.

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North American football broadcaster GolTV has acquired the rights for the German Bundesliga in the US and Canada until the end of the 2011-12 season.

GolTV has been the rights-holder in the territories since 2006-07, prior to which Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) held them.

Gol chief executive Enzo Francescoli said the Bundesliga was one of the most popular football leagues with North American fans.

GolTV’s other top football rights in the region include Spain’s La Liga. Rival FSC has the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, and will next season take over broadcasting of the Uefa Champions League from ESPN.

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