Austrian soccer’s ÖFB Cup domestic knockout competition will continue to be aired by the country’s public service broadcaster ORF as part of a new rights agreement that includes select Women’s Bundesliga and national team matches.
The deal, struck with the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB), runs until 2030 and sees ORF retain rights to air all matches from the men’s ÖFB Cup across its channels and platforms (free-to-air, radio, and online), with at least 15 games per season to be broadcast live on its ORF linear channel.
Coverage will include highlights and news to be distributed across its various platforms.
The package also includes rights to all home games of the Austrian youth national team, with all U21 home games to be shown live on ORF, as well as a swathe of women’s matches, including all home games of the women’s national team, the Women’s Bundesliga (at least 24 matches per season live on ORF), and the Austrian Women’s Cup (at least four match per season live on ORF).
In total, over 50 live soccer matches on ORF will be made FTA.
ÖFB Supervisory Board chairman Josef Pröll has said: “The long-term partnership with ORF sends a strong signal for Austrian football.
“Visibility is the foundation for enthusiasm, identification, and sustainable development. With this agreement, we are creating planning security and simultaneously strengthening the media presence of women's football and youth development. This is another important step for the development of football in Austria.”
ORF already airs home matches of the men’s national team – rights it shares with commercial network ServusTV – and the addition of women’s national team home matches will ensure wide visibility of qualifying games for the FIFA World Cup 2027 in Brazil.
ORF shares domestic rights to the men’s top-tier Bundesliga (ÖFBL) with pay-TV broadcaster Sky Österreich for the current 2022-23 to 2025-26 cycle, but has also retained the same package of rights for the 2026-27 to 2028-29 cycle.
The package covers four Bundesliga matches per season live – two first-choice and two second-choice games – as well as highlights and short reporting rights for all 195 matches each campaign.
The public broadcaster also airs highlights of European soccer’s top-tier UEFA Champions League as part of an agreement with rightsholder Canal Plus, the pay-TV heavyweight, and has secured a sub-licensing deal with Red Bull-owned ServusTV for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 UEFA European Championships.
ORF director general Roland Weißmann said: “… the extension with the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) now also underlines the ORF’s position as the most important media partner of domestic sports – and this is entirely in the interest of domestic football fans, who can look forward to many live broadcasts.”
