The billion-dollar dispute over the TV rights auction between the German Football League and DAZN threatens a tough legal battle. The global media company announced that it would go to court on Friday. “In view of the lack of reaction from the DFL to our complaint about the unlawful allocation of rights package B, DAZN will take legal action to achieve the award of the package,” said a company spokesman for the German Press Agency (dpa) on Friday.
According to dpa information, the Internet sports broadcaster DAZN even intends to withdraw completely from the Bundesliga TV broadcast if it does not receive package B. The sales process for the audiovisual media rights of the first and second Bundesliga was initially interrupted on Monday the previous week because there was no bank guarantee from DAZN. According to information from the FAZ, the pay-TV broadcaster Sky was awarded the contract for the lucrative TV rights package on Tuesday, and is said to have offered significantly less than DAZN. The entire process was then stopped for the time being
DAZN now wants to exhaust all legal means in the dispute with the DFL – and is blatantly threatening to do so. “The legal process can take years, starting with a lawsuit before an arbitration tribunal and possibly through several instances before German civil courts, if necessary with the involvement of the European Court of Justice,” said the company spokesman.
DFL reacts with clear rejection
The DFL reacted to DAZN’s announcements with a clear rejection. The league association released a statement with five points “for clarification” on Friday afternoon. It says: “Should DAZN file the arbitration claim, the DFL is well positioned for such proceedings. In the interests of speedy procedural and legal certainty, which is in everyone’s interest, the DFL expects that all parties involved accept an arbitration award as final and conclusive.”
In terms of content, the DFL rejected all allegations made by the streaming service. “The offers from DAZN Limited were not in accordance with the tender and were therefore not taken into account in the award. The document from a bank subsequently submitted by DAZN does not change the decision about the alternative award. There is no basis and no justification for the reversal of the decision demanded by DAZN,” wrote the DFL. All interested parties were aware of “the conditions of the auction”. DAZN’s accusation that it was not correctly informed is “definitely rejected”.
According to the DFL, there were “several offers of talks” to DAZN. “The ‘lack of reaction from the DFL’ publicly cited by DAZN is incomprehensible,” the DFL wrote. Beyond the statement, the league association “does not want to provide any further information about the auction and tendering process,” it concluded.
The dispute is about package B for live games on pay TV. It is the largest package with the matches on Saturday at 3.30 p.m. and on Friday evening as well as the relegation games. This package includes a total of 196 live games. The other live games are included in the pay TV packages C with the top games on Saturday at 6.30 p.m. and the Supercup as well as D with the Sunday games. Altogether there are 113 live games.
DAZN had reportedly offered around 400 million euros annually for package B – around 1.6 billion euros for the rights period 2025/26 to 2028/29. Calculated over this four-year period, the offer is said to have been around 300 million euros more than the competition. DAZN complained that the required bank guarantee could not be obtained within 24 hours and submitted it this week.
In the opinion of the DFL, which, according to FAZ information, has lost some trust in the streaming provider due to past payments from DAZN, that was too late: “Submitting documents after the bid for a rights package was awarded in accordance with the auction rules has no effect,” they said DFL had already announced this in a statement.
A risk for both sides
The DFL already has experience with TV disputes and the German Institution for Arbitration. Four years ago, the dispute with Discovery/Eurosport dragged on for several months due to missing payments worth millions. At the end of 2020, the then DFL managing director Christian Seifert announced: “We have comprehensively won the legal dispute and the money is flowing as planned.”
But now the league faces another problem even in the event of a legal victory against DAZN. According to reports, in this case the company would completely withdraw from the Bundesliga tender. The loss of the Bundesliga, which DAZN will still be allowed to show on Fridays and Sundays next season, would hurt the company. But the paid internet broadcaster has comprehensive TV rights for the Champions League as well as other football leagues, including the Spanish La Liga and the Italian Serie A, at least until 2027.
However, DAZN’s exit from the bidding process would also be painful for the DFL. The auction of the other packages would lack a financially strong competitor who could drive up prices through competitive bidding.
