Sky Deutschland, the prominent German pay-TV broadcaster, has today extended its soccer-based carriage partnership with OneFootball, the digital platform, for the upcoming 2021-22 season.
The extension will once again see all Sky broadcasts of matches from the second-tier 2.Bundesliga and DFB Pokal cup competition made available to OneFootball mobile app subscribers.
Games will be available both live and on a pay-per-view basis, with the 2.Bundesliga starting on 23 July, and the DFB Pokal kicking off on 6 August.
Sky and OneFootball first partnered to offer the latter's subscribers access to 2.Bundesliga and DFB Pokal matches in 2019, and the relationship is now entering a third season.
Matches can be purchased via the Apple or Google Play stores, with each live game available – on both smartphones and tablets – for €3.99 ($4.70).
Hans Gabbe, Sky’s senior vice-president of sports rights and commercialisation, said: “Following the extension of our partnership with OneFootball, the Sky brand and our first-class football broadcasts can once again… be experienced on a platform where young and price-sensitive football fans consume football content on a daily basis.”
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataNikolaus von Doetinchem, vice-president of OTT streaming and media rights at OneFootball, added: “Our innovative and flexible pay-per-view model was very popular with our users in the first two seasons. We want to continue and build upon this positive development in the coming campaign."
Sky holds domestic live rights to the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga – alongside over-the-top sports streaming platform DAZN – in a deal running until 2025, while its deal for the DFB Pokal is set to expire in 2022.
In addition, Sky will allow OneFootball subscribers to access highlights from its coverage of English soccer’s top-tier Premier League, with the clips available to purchase and view from 1am CET the morning after each match.
Last week, OneFootball struck an extensive deal to offer live global streaming of select matches from Liga MX, the top Mexican soccer league.
Under the exclusive partnership, OneFootball will offer free-to-air live streaming around the world of between two and five matches from each round of fixtures in the 2021 Apertura, the first half of the campaign, and the 2022 Clausura, the second half.
OneFootball is to showcase the Mexican league in various European countries, including France, Germany, Italy and the UK, plus Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The platform also has streaming deals in place for competitions including the Scottish Premier League and Belgium’s Pro League.
Elsewhere, the over-the-top streaming service of Blue+, the Swiss pay-TV broadcaster which holds multiple premium sporting rights, is launching on the Apple TV platform in time for the start of the country’s top-tier soccer Super League this upcoming weekend.
The Blue TV streaming app will be made available on Apple TV, giving users of that platform access to all Blue+ sporting properties, including the Super League, European soccer's Uefa Champions League and second-tier Europa League.
Apple TV customers with a Blue TV subscription will be able to access the app free of charge, while even those without a subscription will still be able to access over 250 live channels without payment.
Since it launched in October last year, Blue TV has been launched on LG smart TVs, net+ TV boxes, and on UPC boxes.
Blue+ holds exclusive domestic rights to Switzerland's Super League and second-tier Challenge League until the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
The new season starts this Saturday.