Premiere now without live Bundesliga after all
With Deutsche Telekom's agreement with the German Soccer League (DFL) in the dispute over the acquired Internet rights to the Bundesliga, Premiere has lost any hope of broadcasting the games via cable or satellite.
Following Deutsche Telekom's agreement with the German Football League (DFL) in the dispute over the acquired internet rights to the Bundesliga, Premiere has lost hope of broadcasting via cable or satellite. As reported by the industry service Horizont, the DFL officially accepts Telekom's legal opinion that the acquired Internet license also includes distribution via cable and satellite. However, Telekom is waiving its right to exercise the rights in return for a significant reduction in license fees. In addition, Telekom will receive the mobile rights for three Bundesliga seasons from the 2006/07 season onwards. The agreement also provides for Telekom to become a premium partner of the Bundesliga and to have its logo on the substitution boards and shirt sleeves of the 36 clubs in the first and second divisions. This preserves the exclusive rights of the Arena cable group, which acquired the TV license for 210 million euros. Premiere customers, on the other hand, will only be able to watch the Bundesliga with a VDSL connection from Telekom, which is likely to disappoint most of Premiere's pay-TV subscribers. The loss of the rights for distribution via cable and satellite caused Premiere's share price to plummet to an all-time low of less than ten euros on Tuesday.
