Sky Deutschland Wants To Keep All Live Bundesliga Rights

German pay-TV network Sky Deutschland "wants to keep its stronghold on all live Bundesliga rights," according to Manuel Weis of QUOTENMETER. Sky, which currently shows all 612 games of the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga, "wants to continue its wall-to-wall coverage during the next rights period starting in '17-18." Sky "currently has no competition in the pay-TV sector, but free-to-air TV channel RTL recently announced that it will 'take a close look' at the rights." Sky CEO Carsten Schmidt said, "We want to remain the partner of the Bundesliga that we are today. We will do everything to do so." He added that the network's coffers are "well stocked." Schmidt said that Sky's group of networks -- U.K., Italy and Germany -- are investing around €6.5B ($7.4B) in sports rights this year. He also called the Bundesliga "part of Sky's DNA" (QUOTENMETER, 10/15).