Growth in TV rights deals in Germany and England "lifted broadcast revenues" of Europe’s top five football leagues 25% to a combined €5B ($6.7B) a season, according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. TV Sports Markets, an information provider for broadcasters and sports organizations, said in its Football Media Money League report that the latest cycle of rights sales through '16 in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain added €1B ($1.3B) a season to the previous three-year period. TV Sports Markets Editor Frank Dunne said, “League football remains the most sought-after media content in the world and all the indications are that broadcaster appetite for the sport at elite level shows no sign of diminishing.” England’s Premier League generates €2.2B ($3B) a year in domestic and int'l TV rights sales, more than double the €975M ($1.4B) earned by second-ranked Italy’s Serie A. While the German Bundesliga’s rights sales of €541M ($726M) per season is the lowest of the five leagues, the 54% rise in its domestic contract is "bettered only by the Premier League’s 63 percent jump." Dunne said, "The domestic rights in German football have historically been low because of the lack of competition in the German pay-TV market. Only in the most recent deal, when Deutsche Telekom looked like being a genuine rival, was Sky Deutschland forced to up its price" (BLOOMBERG, 11/10).
