Germany: RTL interested in "good portion" of 2017-2021 Bundesliga TV rights

Manfred Loppe, sports director for the German free private channel RTL, said on 27/08/2014 that he was interested in acquiring domestic TV rights for the Bundesliga after 2017.

"We will study the tender, as always. If we decide to make an offer, we do not need to acquire the cake in its entirety, but only a good portion of it," said Loppe in an interview with the German media outlet Sponsors.

RTL acquired the broadcast rights in Germany for the qualifying matches of the German national team for Euro 2016 and for the 2018 World Cup on 11/07/2013. The amount of the acquisition was estimated by German media at €100m. These are RTL's only TV rights for football to date; the company mainly has domestic sports TV rights for Formula 1 and boxing.

"There are formats and events that are identified as 'must-see'. The fragmentation of the field and the digital broadcast of events in this category are not harmful -- quite the opposite. Sport, as a type of emotional expression, is thus more likely to be loved and watched around the world," said Loppe on 27/08/2014.

The awarding of domestic TV…