Bundesliga TV rights: unilateral termination of Eurosport deal invalidated by arbitration court

A German arbitration court invalidates the unilateral contract termination by Eurosport concerning the broadcasting rights, in Germany, to the Bundesliga, carried out by the pay-TV group during the shutdown of the German championship due to the Covid-19 pandemic (between 14/03 and 16/05/2020). This decision is final for both parties and the agreement continues to exist in force, announced the DFL on 13/08/2020.

Eurosport had acquired the broadcasting rights to 40 matches per Bundesliga season (plus the German Super Cup and the Bundesliga / 2.Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga / 3.Liga play-offs) for the 2017-2021 cycle, before sub-licencing these rights, for the last two seasons of the contract, to the OTT platform DAZN on 18/07/2019.

Following the termination of the deal by Eurosport, the DFL had concluded live broadcasting agreements with DAZN and Amazon so that they co-broadcast the matches of the lot acquired by Eurosport for the end of the 2019-20 Bundesliga season, played behind closed doors (from 16/05 to 27/06/2020).

Discovery, the parent company of Eurosport, has not commented…