Sort of good news everyone - Fox bought the television rights to the Bundesliga for the Americas (including the US) and parts of Asia and Europe from the 2015-2016 season until 2020. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/bundesliga-signs-tv-deal-21st-century-fox-110531045--sow.html http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...Fox-Bundesliga-Announce-Groundbreaking-Global Fox gains the rights in 80 countries and territories, will have access to all 306 Bundesliga matches (not just the 5 produced internationally per matchday) along with digital distribution rights (FoxSoccer2Go will become relevant again!). Fox did a global rights purchase for the Eredivisie some time ago that has them own 51% of the Eredivisie TV channels in the Netherlands as well as the rights in numerous countries around the world (ESPN still has the US rights, but I do not now how much longer their contract lasts). As for how much exposure Fox Sports in the US decides to give the Bundesliga remains to be seen, but really only two options (socceraction mentioned this in the TV/Radio/Media thread) - 1) Fox goes all in and, even though the ratings will likely dwarf the Premier League, will still show multiple matches on Fox Sports 1 and 2. Or 2) It's mainly on Fox Soccer Plus (if still around) and online but very little on TV that most people get. Still 22 months away, but the Bundesliga will not be off the air forever, and when it comes back it'll be here for 5 years at least.
It great news for Bundesliga supporters who root for football clubs like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, whom are dying to watch a live game on every weekend.
Hell, it'll be great for fans all the other clubs as well since Fox will have the rights to all of the matches.
Even Wolfsburg? If so, I am FULL ON for going back to watching/reporting Die Wolfe's matches without having to worry about getting a virus on my PC from some offshore illegal pirate streaming site, because that is the reason why I jumped to the Premiership, because up until this news, I got sick and tired of DISH not having the soon-to-be-defunct GolTV (along with Comcast and DirecTV, who dumped GOL last year, DISH dumped it in 2006 due to a money dispute over carrying their channel), which is a half assed channel anyways, and will soon be out of business. Hopefully FOX will do the same thing that NBC is doing with the EPL, by offering all 9 BL matches every week on the air, free, LIVE, on TV and online, just like NBC is doing with their free Premier League Extra Time and NBC LiveEXTRA services. That way no matter which of the 18 teams you cheer for every matchday (mine of course is VfL Wolfsburg), you can do what I am currently doing in the EPL for Arsenal, but in the Bundesliga, watching Wolfsburg (or another club) and ONLY Wolfsburg, LIVE as it happens, much like NBC says: EVERY TEAM. EVERY MATCH. EVERY WEEK. The countdown is on to my triumphant return to the Bundesliga, and don't worry Wolfsburg supporters, I am still keeping up with my VfL Trikot collection, I will soon be ordering my Adidas 2013-14 VfL away and home strips for this current season. Hopefully they won't be relegated by then. IMMER NUR DU VfL!!!
Totally agree. Fox should and I really really hope does exactly what NBC is doing with the EPL. If they do, say hello America to the most exciting league in the world.
I personally don't see Fox going for overflow channels the way NBC is with the Premier League - the $85m a year price tag is why NBC is giving the Premier League so much coverage (which I am totally cool with, even though Verizon FIOS doesn't provide the ExtraTime channels, and LiveExtra blows - hurts doubly as Spurs have been shifted to ExtraTime quite a bit lately, but that's another story). Fox spent reportedly around 150m Euros ($203.5m) for the entire international rights package (all 80 territories) per season (sportspromedia.com), doubling what was made previously on international TV rights. A worthwhile investment given the price, but Fox isn't exactly breaking the bank to bring US coverage in the way NBC is, so I can't see things like overflow channels. Ideally though, this could be feasible should the kickoff times remain the same: Friday afternoon EST match (if happening): Fox Sports 1 Sat. 930am EST kickoffs: 1st pick: Fox Sports 1 2nd pick: Fox Sports 2 3rd pick: Fox Soccer Plus 4th and 5th picks: FoxSoccer2Go/FoxSports2Go (replayed on delay Sat afternoon on FoxSoccer+) Sat 1230pm EST: Fox Sports 2 Sun 930am kickoff: Fox Sports 1 1230pm kickoff: Fox Sports 2 All matches live on FoxSports2Go/FoxSoccer2Go For me the big question will be whether in 22 months Fox Sports 2 will have wider carrier distribution (right now only in 40m homes) and whether Fox, to get that wider distribution, starts putting college football/basketball on Fox Sports 2 as well as 1. If so, the Sat and Sun 1230pm kickoffs will probably end up on FS+ or an equivalent.
This is my big question as well. Right now, my Comcast system doesn't have FS2, and has never offered FS+. Things are likely to change in the next 22 months, but as it stands today I would be getting a fairly limited number of games...better than the zero I get now, of course! I wouldn't expect the Friday afternoon (US time) match to end up on FS1 each week, teams playing in Europe don't often end up in that game for obvious reasons.
Fox obviously is jumping the Bundesliga bandwagon. Think the recent success eventually helped more than every DFL marketing or US Buli fans calling for it did. It remains to be seen if Buli clubs can stay successful internationally and provide attractive footy. What I dont understand is why they bought the whole package of all games since I doubt there is any interest in the US to watch the classic Buli cracker Augsburg-Freiburg.
I think Fox will make the BL the crown jewel of its football programming. They honestly don't have much choice in the matter. At least not in the USA. I actually hope they have at least a highlights show for the 2. Liga too. I'm also hoping they won't wait until 2015-2016 to start and at least make GolTV an offer to sub-contract the broadcast rights for some BL matches next season. GolTV did this before with ESPN. Maybe they'll want to do it again. But, getting back to the main topic, yes, this is FANTASTIC news!!
This is good news. I think the option of having all games on Fox2Go would be great but I would be happy with Fox Sports 2 as well. I actually want variety (I would watch Augsburg v. Freiburg) but having any 3 games on means you can see most teams (even if it is only twice a season when they play Bayern). I will pay to see Bundesliga action. I miss it. (I would also be very interested in 2.BL but that is another story.
I wonder what will happen to rebroadcasts from team sites? I watch HSV on hsvtotal.tv and it is great. Plus I don't want a kajillion other channels that come with a cable subscription...
Nothing. The clubs offer them above all for the home market where they throw live and highlight Buli pics after you. If you just want to see one(your) club this is probably the best solution. If you want the whole experience and variety of Buli play you'll have to go with Fox. Dunno if they provide Konferenz in the US.
Fox will certainly have the chance to broadcast all nine games. I think they could technically even show all the Bundesliga 2 games - those are usually included in the international contracts. We should definitely expect to see a least six games available on a mobile/on-demand basis - DFL produces those for abroad anyway, and Fox has no reason not to take them. The real question is how many games Fox is going to give the Bundesliga on its really high-reach channels, and whether we can get to the point where Fox shows top games on the main network (outside of football season). I don't btw think 150mil per season is correct. 150mil euros per season is the DFL target for all the rights, across 209 territories. The Fox deal only includes 80 territories, so with some adjustments for the relative value of the territories included, if they say they're on target to reach 150mil then I would guess that Fox is somewhere below half that. I should like to think that stuff like European rights or the Middle East will fetch another healthy sum. One great part about this is the tie-in with Sky Deutschland. The Konferenz, for example, is a Sky-produced broadcast, so the DFL could previously never offer it to foreign broadcasters. Since Sky Deutschland is a part of 21st Century Fox, however, sharing that content becomes a lot easier. The same goes for the presentation of Saturday evening games, where Fox has exclusive extra camera angles. It's also going to be extremely easy for Fox to have Sky Deutschland and FS1 share resources within the family. I'm expecting a lot more interviews, on-site pregame and postgame shows, and stories around the matches. It won't just be them throwing on the raw feed and adding commentary from a studio, that's for damn sure. Either way it's great news for the Bundesliga on US TV.
I can almost anticipate Rob Stone or GuJo at Volkswagen Arena for an occasional FOX Network ("big" FOX - over the air) telecast of a Wolfsburg home match, provided we don't get relegated by the time the new Fox deal kicks in come 2015. As for the partnership idea with Sky Deutschland (also owned by NewsCorp, as is FOX), for my first three seasons as a VfL supporter (2010-14, this is my fourth straight year), mainly watching matches through the pirate streaming sites, I first-hand got to enjoy their terrific German language coverage, especially their well-put-together half-time and pre-match shows, as well as the matches themselves, those having contributed to my die-hard almost-exclusive viewership of Wolfsburg matches (before I got that virus in my PC earlier this season from those sites), and perhaps maybe FOX can replicate that exact same thing that Sky Deutschland does, but for its English-speaking fans. IMMER NUR DU VfL!!!
I guess the same could be said about NBC showing all the English games including the high scoring Stoke City vs "almost anyone else from the EPL mid to lower table" around the December-February time frame when it is either pooring or snowing causing an already boring match get even worse.
As a Dortmund supporter, I know I will get to see them often. That said, I am very glad that more of the Bundesliga clubs will get more exposure over here. The Bundesliga has the best attendance on average when compared to the other big leagues over there and people will get to see that fun atmosphere now and they won't have the excuse that they don't want to listen to Spanish announcers or whatever language their online stream is broadcast in. The Bundesliga didn't have it's first 0-0 match till this past weekend. Sure, the people will have to get used to all the new names as it isn't all the world's class stars but if they like attractive attacking football than they will enjoy the Bundesliga as long as Fox does a good job.
You're right of course. My point but was more in the direction "better just show 4-6 games" to get a coverage of Buli that shows quality in footy as well as atmosphere. To sell the product in the US like a German car. Cause between the top 4, the midfield teams, and the relegation zone - there is a huge gap.
It's just a pity we have to wait 22 months for this...having the World Cup as a springboard to introduce the wider American public to a number of Bundesliga players would be a beautiful thing.
There are rumors that GolTV is considering sub-licensing matches to Fox next season. I imagine Fox would be interested in that arrangement since they have no football coverage other than the CL and EL at the moment.
Does anyone know if GolTV HD is available in Canada? I have GolTV on Bell right now (channel 404), but would love to have it in HD.