S Nation Media, the new streaming platform launched by publishing giant Axel Springer and Christian Seifert, former chief executive of the German Football League (DFL), has appointed Andreas Heyden as its new chief executive.
The hiring of Heyden of reunites him with Seifert after he stepped down from his role as chief executive of DFL Digital Sports earlier this week.
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Heyden will continue in his role leading the league’s digital arm until July 31 and take up his new position with S Nation Media on August 1.
He joined the DFL in the summer of 2015 from Maxdome, the ProSiebenSat.1-owned video-on-demand platform.
In 2019, his role with the German soccer body was expanded as he took on the additional responsibility of leading the DFL Group’s dedicated digital innovation unit as executive vice president.
The DFL credited Heyden with more than tripling the reach of its digital channels.
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By GlobalDataSeifert said: "[Heyden] has been instrumental in driving the digital transformation of German professional football in recent years. Like hardly anyone else in the media industry, he stands for innovation and digitization with a clear end customer focus."
S Nation Media, which will launch next year, has already secured several domestic media rights agreements including long-term deals for the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), Volleyball Bundesliga, and Table Tennis Bundesliga.
It was also reported this week that the new streaming service is set to secure rights to German handball’s top-tier Bundesliga.
Jan Bayer, chief executive at Axel Springer, said: “With basketball, table tennis, and volleyball, Christian Seifert and his management team have already been able to convince three attractive national leagues of the special potential that the partnership with S Nation Media has in store.”
The new streaming platform was announced in January after Seifert’s Reedstreet Ventures holding company established the media start-up with Axel Springer.
Seifert, who stepped down from his role as DFL chief executive in 2020, serves as the founder and managing director, with Axel Springer owning a majority stake.
The joint venture is focusing on sports away from soccer including basketball, handball, ice hockey, and table tennis, with the rights to various domestic properties due to expire.
The venture is planned to launch in late 2023 to coincide with the start of its new rights deals and will adopt both direct-to-consumer and wholesale models.
