Germany: ARD group not a candidate for Champions League 2015-2018 TV rights

The German public broadcaster ARD officially announced that they are not a candidate to acquire TV rights for the UEFA Champions League for the period 2015-2018, on the 27/11/2013.

German broadcasters had until the 27/11/2013 to respond to UEFA's (Union of European Football Associations) tender for broadcasting rights in Germany, for European club competitions for the period 2015 -2018. Tenders were sent to Team Marketing, the agency that sells media and commercial rights for European cups.

"We will discuss this tender calmly. We will decide in the coming weeks if we make an offer or not," stated Axel Balkausky, ARD's sports coordinator, to the Focus newspaper, on the 04/11/2013.

ZDF hold the rights to broadcast the Champions League, on German free-TV, for the period 2012-2015. The public broadcaster pays an estimated €48 to €54 million per season to exclusively broadcast one weekly Champions League match on Wednesdays, four second round games, two quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final.

"ZDF are very interested in the prospect of covering the Champions League in the future. We…