German FTA network to broadcast 30 games during the 2023 season.
The European League of Football (ELF) has secured a four-year extension of its German broadcast deal with free-to-air (FTA) network ProSieben.
Contract:
- ProSieben Maxx will air 30 games during the 2023 season, two per matchday
- The ELF championship game will air on the main ProSieben network for the first time
- The Ran.de streaming service will air an additional free match per round as part of the broader deal with ProSieben subsidiary Seven.One that also runs until 2026
- Ran.de will also offer expanded ELF content beyond just live games
- The number of games being broadcast by ProSieben is set to increase over the course of the contract
Context:
The deal comes amid growing football interest in Germany, with the National Football League (NFL) set to stage two regular season overseas games in the country next season.
The expanded deal between ProSieben and the ELF will help plug the gap left in the media company’s sports portfolio after it lost out on the NFL FTA contract for the 2023 to 2027 cycle, with the RTL public-service network securing those rights.
Comment:
Zeljko Karajica, managing director, ELF, said: “European football has never had such a media presence before, and thus we are substantiating our claim to be the number one league in Europe.”
Coming next:
The ELF is growing to 17 teams for the upcoming campaign, adding expansion franchises in Paris and Prague. The new ProSieben rights deal locks in broad reach in one of the league’s biggest markets, with seven teams currently based in Germany.
Source : Sports Promedia
