Auction in April: Cartel Office approves DFL TV rights tender

As of: February 26, 2024 4:52 p.m

The Federal Cartel Office has finally approved the German Football League’s new tender model and cleared the way for the auction in April.

“The DFL was informed in a letter that the model it presented was tolerated by the Federal Cartel Office,” the authority announced on Monday (February 26, 2024).

The office had previously published an agreement in principle at the end of January and then given companies involved in the process the opportunity to “comment on the office’s preliminary assessment”. This process is now complete.

Merkel: “We are very happy about the release”

The DFL can now send the documents to the media companies that have registered in the coming days. After a further information phase in March, the auction of the Bundesliga rights for the 2025/26 to 2028/29 seasons is scheduled to take place from mid-April.

“We are very pleased that the Federal Cartel Office has finally approved the concept of our media rights tender after a very intensive review,” said DFL Managing Director Steffen Merkel. “The approval of the model planned by the DFL -– in particular the abolition of the ban on single-occupancy that was called for in the past — puts the allocation of media rights on a legally secure foundation and is a strong basis for a good tender.”

End of the ban on solo employment

The end of the ban on single purchasers, also known as the No Single Buyer Rule, is a significant change in the new tender. This regulation from the most recent tenders stated that not a single pay-TV provider is allowed to buy all live rights, but at least two must be involved. “Sky” and “DAZN” will share these rights until 2025. At the next auction, a single broadcaster could acquire all pay-TV rights.

With the approved model, it is also possible to eliminate the Bundesliga summary on free TV on Saturday from 6:30 p.m., as is currently offered by the ARD “Sportschau”. With this variant now advertised, the highlights would only be shown on freely accessible television from 7:15 p.m. In a second variant, there would be a summary at 6:30 p.m.