The future of the Bundesliga sports show on Saturday evening on ARD is uncertain. When it comes to the awarding of media rights from the 2025/26 season onwards in the second quarter of this year, there is “no guarantee of existence for any time slot, format or broadcaster,” said DFL managing director Steffen Merkel in an interview with “Sport-Bild” ( Wednesday). “That is simply the nature of an open tender.”
According to Merkel, the German Football League has submitted two scenarios to the Federal Cartel Office. “One with a transmission window as we know it today. Which could go to the ARD Sportschau, but also to other free-to-air channels” and “a later broadcast window from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Which package gets the contract depends on the content concepts and requirements.”
In general, “there is widespread interest in the market for more compact use in the free area on Saturday evening,” Merkel continued.
Planted league-wide TV-Doku
ARD is currently showing the first summaries of the afternoon games in the Bundesliga on free TV on Saturdays from 6:30 p.m. The average reach last season was around 3.7 million people. “It is of course clear to us that ARD, with the Sportschau, has been the Bundesliga’s longest-standing partner since it was founded in 1963,” said Merkel. However, it is considered unlikely in the industry that the broadcaster would bid on a package with later highlight rights in the tender.
With regard to the allocation of rights, the DFL is pushing ahead with its plans for further improved media offerings. A league-wide documentary is planned that will provide insights behind the scenes. “It doesn’t just have to be about the match day and the big clubs,” said Merkel.
Daniel Theweleit Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 9 Daniel Theweleit Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4 Daniel Theweleit, Leverkusen Published/Updated: Recommendations: 6
The 43-year-old would also like to have significantly more media proximity to the clubs in the future. “This includes short interviews with players after the team bus arrives at the stadium; Images from a camera installed in the dressing room to capture initial emotions as players come in; and, above all, more access to the teams during the week, such as recordings during training, more interviews and background stories with the stars, so that we can also offer more between match days,” explained Merkel.
