German soccer’s elite Bundesliga has announced the entry of its Bundesliga Pass direct-to-consumer (DTC) offering in two new markets in sub-Saharan Africa, after its debut in 2025 in South Africa.
The service is now available in both Kenya, where it will showcase every top-flight Bundesliga and second-tier 2.Bundesliga fixture, with a rollout in Nigeria scheduled for soon after.
To distribute the service, the Bundesliga has also partnered with telecoms operators Vodacom (South Africa), Safaricom (Kenya), and MTN (Nigeria), which is also available as a paid add-on via the OneFootball platform.
On the launch, Peer Naubert, the chief executive of the Bundesliga International rights arm, said: “The future of football in Africa is mobile. With mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa growing faster than anywhere else globally, and smartphone data usage forecast to nearly triple by 2030, we saw the opportunity with South Africa as a mobile-first, football-crazy market last year and became the first league with a direct-to-consumer offering.
“South Africa showed how strongly fans respond when you give them more ways to connect with the Bundesliga. Kenya and Nigeria are the next step – scaling that approach with strong partners.”
In South Africa, public-service network SABC still holds linear rights, while regional pay-TV giant Canal+ is the league’s rightsholder in Kenya and Nigeria, as well as over 40 territories on the continent.
Nigeria is the best-represented African country in the Bundesliga, with eight Nigerian-registered players currently plying their trade there.
These include Nathan Tella (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Victor Boniface and Felix Agu (both Werder Bremen), Philip Otele and Jordan Torunarigha (both Hamburg), Kevin Akpoguma (Hoffenheim), Uchenna Ogundu (Augsburg), and Suleman Sani (RB Leipzig).
Additionally, several players with Nigerian heritage, such as Carney Chukwuemeka (Borussia Dortmund) and Antonio Nusa (RB Leipzig), also compete in the competition.
There are, however, no current Kenyan or South African players in the competition, although past players such as South Africa stalwart Delron Buckley may have created an affinity.
