German Public Broadcaster ARD Considers Submitting Bid For Champions League Rights

Sources said that German public broadcaster ARD "is seriously evaluating a bid for UEFA Champions League rights," according to Manuel Weis of QUOTENMETER. ARD confirmed the speculations via its Twitter account. The broadcaster tweeted, "Die ARD hat noch (...) nicht entschieden, ob sie ein Angebot für die Champions League abgibt" ... ("The ARD has not (...) yet decided it it will submit a bid for the Champions League"). The reason for the sudden interest in Champions League rights "could be the fact that ARD is losing its broadcasting rights of German national team qualification games in fall '14." However, Champions League rights "will be distinctively more expensive." Speculations suggest that current free-to-air TV Champions League rights holder ZDF pays €50M ($67M) per season, which translates into a price of about €4M ($5.4M) per game (QUOTENMETER, 11/5).