The TV offer has become confusing for football fans. With new television deals going into effect this season, it will be expensive for the hardcore fans to want to watch all of the games. But there are also free offers.
The DFB-Pokal starts at the weekend, the Bundesliga a week later and shortly afterwards the Champions League – but which station is actually showing what? “Keeping an overview is pretty difficult,” says Sky presenter Nele Schenker. The German Press Agency offers an overview.
DFB-Pokal:
The range of cup games on television at no additional cost is comparatively large. 13 games are shown on free-to-air television this season, nine are shown on ARD and four on Sport1. There are also the great summaries in the first. All games are only available from the pay TV provider Sky. From 2022/23 on, there will be 15 cup games on free TV, then on ARD and ZDF.
1. Bundesliga:
The Bundesliga is expensive for the fans. Only three premier league games run live on free TV on Sat.1 – and no longer on ZDF, as was the case until the previous season. In addition to the opening game on Friday, there is one game each on the 17th and 18th matchdays. The Sat.1 package also includes the Supercup and the relegation.
If you want to be free to choose, you need two subscriptions. The pay TV broadcaster Sky shows all matches on Saturday for its customers, and the internet provider DAZN, which is also paid for, broadcasts the live games on Friday and Sunday.
Summaries will also be available in the coming season primarily in the ARD’s “Sportschau” on Saturday. ZDF also continues to show highlights in the “Sportstudio” on Saturday evening. Sport1 is also allowed to show free highlights on Sunday mornings.
2. Bundesliga:
The free TV offer in the 2nd division is significantly larger than in the 1st division. Sat.1 is allowed to broadcast the opening game for four years, this year FC Schalke 04 were against Hamburger SV. Sport1 even has a total of 33 top games on offer, usually on Saturday evenings.
ARD offers most of the summaries on free TV. An offshoot of the “Sportschau” shows the highlights of the 2nd Bundesliga at One on Fridays from 10.30 p.m. The offer of the public broadcaster also includes the new summaries on Sunday and the previously permitted on Saturday in the “Sportschau”.
3. League:
The DFB extended the contracts for the transmission of the 3rd division with Telekom in February by one season until 2022/23. MagentaSport customers can watch 380 live games per season. The 3rd division will continue to be shown on free TV by ARD and its 3rd programs. 86 live games as well as summaries of all games are allowed.
Champions League:
The fans also have to pay for the Champions League, which starts with the playoffs in mid-August. In free TV, only the finals from 2022 to 2024 run on ZDF. Supporters of the most important European Cup cannot ignore DAZN, the pay streaming service has live rights for 121 games. In addition, the US Internet giant Amazon secured rights and shows the top game on Tuesday evening on its paid streaming service Prime Video. According to information from the German Press Agency, the ZDF shows summaries of the respective Wednesday games. A confirmation is pending.
Europa League:
RTL is the television home of the Europa League and the new Conference League with rights to 282 games. The games of the two competitions will be shown on RTL, on the niche channel Nitro and on the in-house streaming service TV Now.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
