Premiere faces Bundesliga competitor

[BGonaSTICK]

German sports rights dealer Sportfive has announced its intention to take part in the upcoming bidding process for the soccer Bundesliga rights from the 2009/10 season scheduled to take place before year’s end.

“We have ten national sports leagues under contract and are interested in doing something against the monoculture in Germany’s television landscape,” said Sportfive manager Lars P. Reckwitz. “It is therefore absolutely clear that we will be bidding for the football rights.”

The new entrant means that pay-TV operator Premiere will face a competitor to contend with when the tender begins in earnest. Unitymedia subsidiary Arena, which held the rights before sublicensing them to Premiere, has already announced that it does not intend to take part in the bidding process.

Sportfive, which is owned by French media company Lagardère, already operates its own sports channel, Sportdigital.tv, in Germany. The service, which launched in January, is currently screening matches form the handball and basketball national leagues and from October 1 will also show volleyball national league matches.

Currently only available as a internet TV offering, Sportdigital.tv will be distributed from 1 October via satellite as part of SES Astra’s digital platform entavio on Astra (19.2° East). As Premiere and entavio use the same technical infrastructure, Sportfive’s channel could easily target Premiere’s existing DTH subscriber base.

Source: RapidTV