Bundesliga Announces Multi-Layered Broadcast Strategy In The United Kingdom And Ireland

Forbes

11 hours ago

The governing body of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), through its international subsidiary Bundesliga International, has confirmed deals with multiple broadcasters throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland on Wednesday.
In what the league calls a multi-layered strategy, the Bundesliga can now be viewed across various traditional platforms, but also streaming services and popular YouTube content creators.
'We are delighted to announce our new-look line-up of great media partners as part of our multi-platform strategy in the UK and Ireland,' CEO of Bundesliga International Peer Naubert said in a press release. 'Our approach is as diverse as our supporters: by combining established broadcasters with digital platforms and content creators, we are taking a progressive step in how top-level football can be experienced.'
What does this mean in detail? The Bundesliga's existing partner, Sky Sports, will continue to exclusively screen the Saturday Topspiel or top match. Sky will also feature a comprehensive highlights package and other shoulder programming throughout the week, ensuring Bundesliga fans have access to world-class coverage and expert analysis.
The Sunday games will now be available on Prime Video, the Bundesliga's new partner. The Amazon company will make matches available on a single pay-per-view basis in the UK, with no long-term commitments required. Amazon will also show the promotion/relegation play-offs and the Franz-Beckenbauer-Supercup as of 2026.
How much will the Amazon Prime games cost? One indication could be past partnerships. Prime charged UK fans £2.49 ($3.35) per game for UEFA international games earlier this year.
The deal with Prime isn't the first for the Bundesliga. The DFL also has a long-standing international partnership with AWS, which provides fans with live data on all games.
On top of that, Bundesliga International has also struck a multi-year deal with BBC Sport. The BBC will stream all Friday night games, starting with the Bundesliga opener this weekend between Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig via its on-demand platform BBC iPlayer.
"This multi-layered strategy allows us to connect with more audiences across the UK and Ireland, giving every supporter the chance to engage with Football As It's Meant To Be in the way that suits them best,' Naubert said in a statement. Indeed, getting the Bundesliga in front of as many eyeballs as possible was one of the major goals of the UK and Ireland television deals ahead of the 2025/26 season.
To maximize that effort, Harry Kane and Bayern will be screened free-to-air across multiple platforms in the UK and Ireland this Friday. In what the Bundesliga calls an innovative audience-building strategy, the league aims to make all Friday matches widely available.
In an attempt to maximize eyeballs, the Bundesliga has also signed partnerships with several YouTube football channels, which will live-stream matches on their platforms in a watch-along format.
The partnership includes The Overlap, featuring some of England's biggest football names such as Gary Neville, Roy Keane, and Ian Wright. The Overlap will show 20 Bundesliga games in 2025/2,6 including this Friday's season opener.
The other deal raised some eyebrows within the industry as it includes YouTuber and Manchester United fan Mark Goldbridge's That's Football channel. Although immensely popular, Goldbridge has made some derogatory comments towards the Bundesliga in the past after RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano opted to join Bayern Munich over Manchester United.
Either way, this will be the first time ever that a top league will grant live rights for an extensive package of matches to content creators in Europe. That part certainly makes sense. YouTube has, without a doubt, become the most popular social media platform for content creators and will guarantee the league a significant number of eyeballs.
On top of working with content creators, the league itself, in fact, will try to maximize YouTube. The Bundesliga's own YouTube channel will broadcast all Friday evening matches of both the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga (second division).
Overall, it feels like the dawn of a new era. The Bundesliga has become increasingly popular among English players in recent years. Jude Bellingham launched his career with Borussia Dortmund; Harry Kane won his first-ever club title last season when he secured the Meisterschale with Bayern Munich. Finally, Bellingham's little brother, Jobe Bellingham, joined Borussia Dortmund this summer.
All that was missing was a way for English fans to watch. Going ahead, there are now certainly enough options for British fans of the German game to pick from.