Christian Seifert says domestic broadcasters are "ready to spend greater sums."GETTY IMAGES
Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert, who revealed record revenues, said that German football will avoid the "ceiling" for media rights deals hit by the Premier League, according to Murad Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Seifert said that German broadcasters and digital groups were "ready to spend greater sums" to screen matches for the top division, whose revenues from media rights deals "jumped" by a third last year to €1.25B, boosted by the start of a four-year, €4.6B domestic TV deal with Sky Deutschland and Eurosport. Seifert: "When you look not only to England, but Italy, Spain, France, [the value of domestic screening rights deals] ... get a little bit closer to the ceiling. The German pay-TV market still has a lot of room to grow." The '02 collapse of German media empire Kirch Group, "in part due to debts associated with sports rights contracts," has made local broadcasters "resistant to paying large sums for live sport," Seifert said. As the chase for pay-TV subscribers heats up in Germany, "that reluctance is fading" (FT, 2/13).
