Frankfurt: Sky Deutschland AG beat rivals including Deutsche Telekom AG in an auction of broadcasting rights for Germany's Bundesliga football matches, expanding its licence to show the country's most watched sports through 2017.
The broadcaster controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp retained the rights to show live pay-TV matches via cable and satellite, as well as new rights to show them on the web, mobile devices and via internet protocol TV, Germany's DFL league association said yesterday.
The sale will raise the annual income from the German rights to an average €628 million (Dh3.02 billion) from 2013 to 2017, an increase of 52 per cent.
"We didn't expect results like this, it clearly exceeded our expectations," Christian Seifert, the league's CEO, told a press conference in Frankfurt. Sky's offer exceeded second-best bids by at least 20 per cent in three of the four categories it obtained, he said.
Sky Deutschland is relying on the rights to attract viewers as the company projects an operating profit next year.
Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom will now be stripped of its rights to show the matches over the internet. Axel Springer AG also won some rights to show highlights of the matches on the web and on wireless devices.
Sky Deutschland in February announced plans to raise €300 million by September to help fund its expansion and finance the broadcasting rights.
The company, with its headquarters near Munich, boosted its customer base to three million at the end of December.
