The Austrian football Bundesliga "revealed that it has agreed to a new TV-rights deal with pay-TV channel Sky and public broadcaster ORF," according to Alexander Strecha of the KURIER. The new deal increases the league's TV income from €17M ($22M) to €20.2M ($26.1M) a year. The league signed a three-year deal with Sky including an option for an additional two years. It also signed a five-year deal with ORF including an opt-out clause after three years. Bundesliga Chair Georg Pangl said, "First of all, I was surprised that an agreement was reached that fast. Second, I set myself a goal of €20M ($25.9M). Officially, I'm bound to silence, but we'll have a beautiful Christmas." The initial amount of €17M will be split in the same way as last year: 65% will go to the Bundesliga, 22% will go to the Erste Liga (First League) and 13% will go to the Bundesliga's headquarters. In addition, €3M ($3.9M) will from now on go to the Bundesliga (78%) and Erste Liga (22%). ORF will show a total of 36 live games on free-to-air TV, while Sky will show all league matches live (KURIER, 12/7).
