Heavyweight German pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland has extended its coverage rights to the country's top knockout soccer competition for another four seasons, while free-to-air (FTA) broadcaster ARD has also snapped up a package for the same timeframe.
Through a deal between Sky and the German Football Association (DFB) unveiled late last week, that broadcaster will continue to cover the DFB-Pokal competition for the 2026-27 to 2029-30 cycle, showing all 63 games from each campaign (48 of those on an exclusive basis).
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This extends a partnership between Sky and the DFB, covering the Pokal, which has run since 2008. The last contract, covering the 2022-26 period, was unveiled in July 2021.
The ARD agreement, meanwhile, will see the public-service network cover seven or eight games each year throughout the cycle.
However, the DFB has yet to strike a deal covering a second package of free-to-air rights for the Pokal, which it had outlined during the tender process. In total, 15 games are planned to be covered FTA, meaning ARD and whichever other FTA partner is shown will split them as close to equally as possible.
Reports have now suggested that the DFB is planning direct engagement with broadcasters over this second FTA games package (for which public-service broadcaster ZDF, which holds joint FTA rights alongside ARD currently, was expected to bid).
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By GlobalDataOther options for the DFB include putting the package out to tender again at a later date, restructuring it, or simply keeping the rights and airing the seven or eight games itself via its own platforms.
Separately, the pay-TV giant has also extended its deal covering the Women's DFB Cup for another four seasons. That deal entails 11 matches being covered live, including all fixtures from the quarter-finals onwards.
In terms of FTA coverage for that competition, meanwhile, the number of games shown live annually will increase to five from 2026-27, through a deal between the DFB and the SportA agency, which is operating on behalf of ARD and ZDF.
However, the Conference package for that competition has not yet been sold – again, the DFB may choose to exploit these games and air them itself (all games will be produced for TV coverage).
In terms of the men's competition, the new Sky-DFB agreement also includes clips and highlights rights, as well as the option for Sky to make full re-runs of all games available on free-to-air platforms at 7:00 AM the following morning. Other highlights packages covering the two cup competitions, meanwhile, have been assigned to global streaming platform DAZN, Sport1, and RTL.
Both deals also apply to all distribution channels in Austria and Switzerland.
The men's DFB-Pokal comes to an end on May 24 this year, with the final between Arminia Bielefeld (of the German third tier) and top division side VfB Stuttgart. The women's final, meanwhile, was won by Bayern Munich earlier this month.
In terms of the domestic rights for the men's and women's top leagues in Germany, the men's Bundesliga is being shown live (predominantly) by Sky Deutschland and DAZN, while the women's league is covered live by a combination of Sport1, Deutsche Telekom (through Magenta Sport), DAZN, and both ARD and ZDF.
