Sport1 Bags German Bundesliga Rights

AMSTERDAM: Sport1 in the Netherlands has acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to the German Bundesliga for the current and forthcoming seasons.

The deal includes the broadcast of live matches and highlights, both on TV and the Internet. The first match will air November 22, between Bayern München and Bayer Leverkusen at 3:30 p.m. Sport1 also has the broadcast rights to the English Premier League, the Spanish Primera División and the Italian Serie A. Sport1 is the only Dutch channel to simultaneously offer the six live Champions League matches as well.

Kees Jansma, the managing director of Sport1, said, “We are pleased that starting next weekend Sport1’s international football package will be complete again. More Dutch footballers play and train with the Bundesliga than any of the other international competitions. We are thrilled that each week, Sport1 can once again broadcast the efforts of Louis van Gaal, Arjan Robben, Mark van Bommel, Eljero Elia and Joris Mathijsen.”

Mathieu Ficot, the executive VP of TV rights at the Sportfive marketing agency, commented, “The Netherlands is one of the core football markets in Europe and we are very pleased to have signed this agreement with Sport1 on behalf of our partner DFL, for whom we are handling the Bundesliga broadcast negotiations.”