Sky secured the rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions League in Germany via its subsidiary Sky Deutschland. The three year deal covers seasons 2018/19 – 2020/21, giving the broadcaster exclusive rights to broadcast across satellite, cable, IPTV, web and mobile platforms.
This will mark the first time in UEFA Champions League history that all games will be on pay-TV in Germany. The past 5 years public broadcaster ZDF has been showing several Champions League games a season (free to air), but has now been shutout.
Sky will partner with Perform Group, who signed a sublicensing deal to stream a selection of games via its subscription DAZN sports portal.
German viewers accustomed to watching games for free will now have to subscribe to Sky Deutschland’s pay-TV package that includes Champions League at a monthly cost of 25 euros.
#SkyCL pic.twitter.com/gNHW2KmYFb
— Sky Sport (@SkySportDE) June 13, 2017
Carsten Schmidt, chief executive officer at Sky Deutschland, said:
“We are extremely pleased with this result which means that Sky remains the home of the UEFA Champions League in Germany and Austria for the next four years. With the Bundesliga, the EHF Champions League, Formula 1, ATP Tennis, European and US PGA Tours, our customers are assured of the world’s best in sports.
“In addition to extending its leadership in sport, Sky has also successfully developed a broader content offering in Germany, including the launch of Sky 1, the Sky Arts channel and, sitting alongside favourites such as season 7 of Game of Thrones, a growing slate of Sky original drama including the award winning Babylon Berlin coming later this year.”
Sky’s partnership with DAZN is strategic for both parties. DAZN is broadening its portfolio as it strives to become the Netflix of sports. Partnering with Sky is a major victory to increase subscribers who currently pay about 10 euros per month for the streaming service accessed via tablets, mobile phones and smart-TVs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
In Germany, DAZN is already showing English Premier League.
