The German Football League (DFL) has "put the domestic TV broadcasting rights out to tender," according to Stephan Uersfeld of ESPN. The new contract will begin in the '17-18 season and expire in the summer of '21, and "for the first time five of the 306 matches will be moved to Monday night." The DFL hopes for a "significant rise in domestic TV revenue" when the new contract will be signed later this year. The current deal is worth €696M ($792.5M) for "all 36 member clubs from the upper two German tiers." A further €153.8M ($175M) "has been injected into the league from the international broadcasting rights holders." The DFL said on its website that it "hopes to allocate the TV rights before the start of Euro 2016 in just under two months' time." For the first time, and following the wishes of the German cartel office, a "no single buyer rule" is part of the tender. While it "still allows one network to broadcast all matches" on pay-TV if it wins the bid for all five live packages for the top flight, a second media company could acquire an "over-the-top-package" which would grant it the exclusive right to broadcast three matches of every matchday live on web, TV and mobile. The DFL will "also move a total of 10 matches" from the traditional 3:30pm spot on Saturday to Sunday and Monday. DFL CEO Christian Seifert said, "We combine tradition and innovation with the necessity of economic growth as a measure of safeguarding the future of German professional football at the highest European level" (ESPN, 4/12).
