21st Century Fox and the German Football Federation (DFL) announced a multi-year broadcast deal for Bundesliga football in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The deal is for five years in Asia and the Americas, and two years in Europe. In total, the agreement covers 80 countries or territories on four continents and will span three units of 21st Century Fox: Fox Int'l Channels, Fox Sports and Sky Italia. DFL CEO Christian Seifert said, "These agreements confirm that the Bundesliga has legitimately evolved to become a top international sports media property" (Fox Sports). REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann reported the DFL currently earns about €70M ($94.94M) from int'l media rights for the Bundesliga. The DFL can "expect to double their foreign media rights revenues due to the Fox deal and several other contracts," with Seifert having targeted between €100-150M ($135M-203M) for the next rights period. The Bundesliga "has been experiencing a financial boom in the last few seasons with record attendances, growing television rights revenues, including from international deals, while also enjoying success on the pitch." Turnover rose more than €2B in '11-12 from €1B in '01-02 (REUTERS, 10/14). In L.A., Scott Roxborough reported financial details of the deal "were not disclosed," but the agreement is "certain to boost the financial might of the Bundesliga, whose revenues lag behind those of richer leagues in England and Spain, despite considerable success on the field." The deal kicks off with the '15-16 season and includes rights to all 306 Bundesliga matches per year, as well as the Deutsche Fussball Liga Supercup and relegation playoff matches. 21st Century Fox "will also have digital distribution rights, allowing them to repackage Bundesliga content for online TV and mobile services" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/14).
