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What’s happening with the domestic TV rights in Europe’s major football leagues? Several European football leagues are currently assessing bids for their domestic broadcast rights, while others are reflecting on their recently secured TV agreements. With substantial financial stakes involved, let’s take a look into the state of affairs across the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1.

Premier League

The Premier League’s unveiling of its £5.14 billion ($6.3 billion) media rights deal for the 2016/17 to 2018/19 period took many by surprise, including Richard Scudamore, then-chief executive of the league, who admitted to being surprised by the deal’s value, representing a significant 70 percent increase over the previous arrangement.

While the Premier League hasn’t surpassed the financial terms of that historic deal, it has remained a benchmark for other European football competitions struggling to secure comparable broadcast fees.

Rolling over its £4.8 billion (US$5.9 billion) deal with Sky Sports, BT Sport, and Amazon Prime Video for the current cycle in 2021 has kept the Premier League’s domestic deal value relatively stable for the past eight years.

To put this into context, the Bundesliga’s annual domestic broadcast income is approximately £979 million (US$1.2 billion)—the second-highest among Europe’s top leagues—but it pales in comparison to the Premier League’s annual earnings of £1.6 billion (US$2 billion). Nonetheless, England’s top tier has its eyes set on a substantial increase in the ongoing auction for the 2025/26 to 2028/29 cycle.

The Premier League isn’t the only major league marketing its rights this year. The Sports Journal takes a comprehensive look across England, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France to understand the broadcast landscape.

In the upcoming cycle, the Premier League plans to make around 270 games available for broadcast, a significant increase from the current 200 matches across seven packages. The league aims to offer more matches across only five packages this time, seeking a four-year deal from 2025/26 to 2028/29 instead of the usual three years. The 3 pm Saturday afternoon blackout will remain, but every 2 pm Sunday kickoff will be televised. The league will feature five midweek rounds, including the Boxing Day fixtures, alongside the established kickoff times on Saturday, Sunday, and an 8 pm Monday or Friday slot. Each package will include between 42 and 65 matches.

This marks the Premier League’s first rights tender process since 2016, following the pandemic-forced rollover in 2021. Sky Sports holds the lion’s share of live games with 128 per season, while TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) and Amazon Prime Video air 52 and 20 fixtures, respectively. All three incumbents are expected to contend again, with hopes for increased competition from platforms like DAZN. Apple, however, has indicated it won’t bid.

 

La Liga

Spain’s LaLiga is in the second year of its five-year partnerships with Telefónica and DAZN, valued at approximately €4.95 billion (US$5.29 billion) combined from 2022/23 to 2026/27. The deals significantly expanded DAZN’s Spanish rights portfolio, ending Telefónica-owned Movistar’s long-standing role as LaLiga’s primary domestic broadcaster. Both broadcasters now show five LaLiga games per round, with Movistar exclusively broadcasting three full matchdays annually.

In March 2022, DAZN and Telefónica finalized a sublicensing deal reportedly worth €1.4 billion (US$1.5 billion), allowing Movistar+ to broadcast DAZN’s five LaLiga games per week in Spain.

 

Bundesliga

Germany’s Bundesliga is awaiting its next domestic rights cycle from the 2025/26 season. The current agreement with Sky and DAZN, worth about €1.1 billion (US$1.2 billion) per season, ends in 2025. The lion’s share of the rights is currently held by Sky, showing 200 Saturday games per season, while DAZN airs 106 matches across Fridays and Sundays.

In the next cycle, if a lack of competition continues, the Bundesliga’s domestic deals are likely to remain largely flat, DAZN has revitalized the rights market there, but without rekindling competitive tension, the Bundesliga risks seeing further flat figures domestically.

 

Serie A

Italy’s Serie A recently agreed on a new domestic broadcast rights deal with DAZN and Sky Italia starting from 2024/25, reportedly worth a combined €4.5 billion (US$4.8 billion). DAZN will exclusively carry seven Serie A games each week, while Sky Italia will broadcast the remaining matches.

As part of the DAZN contract, teams will also be entitled to revenue-sharing linked to performance criteria, potentially totaling €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) over the five-year period.

 

Ligue 1

France’s Ligue 1 is facing challenges following the collapse of its deal with Mediapro. Canal+ announced it would not be bidding for the rights from 2024/25, leaving the league in a precarious position.

The LFP canceled the rights auction few months ago due to underwhelming bids. Ligue 1 had anticipated stability and growth in the upcoming domestic cycle, but those expectations have yet to be met.