A dispute has broken out between Discovery Networks Deutschland and Sky Deutschland over the Bundesliga rights.
The district court of Cologne has imposed a temporary injunction against Sky on behalf of Discovery because of misleading advertising, a Discovery spokeswoman confirmed to Broadband TV News. Discovery feels obliged to football fans being correctly informed about the Bundesliga games they can watch, when they can watch them and where they can watch them, she added.
“For this reason, it was important and necessary for us to take action against Sky Deutschland because Sky has misleadingly claimed and advertised that all matches in the upcoming season will only be available on the Sky platforms,” said the Discovery spokeswoman. “In our view, these statements from Sky lead millions of football fans in Germany astray.”
From the new Bundesliga season starting in August 2017, Eurosport will show 45 live games per season in Germany. This includes all Friday night matches, the five Sunday afternoon games, the five Monday night games as well as the Supercup and the four relegation matches.
As Discovery has not found any distribution partner yet, it is only certain at this stage that the games will be shown in Germany on its own OTT service Eurosport Player which viewers can access on smart TV sets, computers, tablets and smartphones.
As a special introductory price, a 12-month subscription to Eurosport Player is offered for €29.99 until August 31, 2017. The day pass (valid 24 hours) costs €9.99.
In Switzerland, Discovery recently reached an agreement with pay-TV broadcaster Teleclub regarding the distribution of its Bundesliga games.
Earlier this year, Discovery und Sky were involved in a hefty carriage fee row in Europe, but reached a last-minute settlement.
[UPDATE, 16.00 CET]: A Sky Deutschland spokesman has confirmed the reception of the temporary injunction lodged by Discovery. “We adjusted our communication reflecting the new rights situation from the 2017/18 season a while ago,” he told Broadband TV News.
In the past months there had been plenty of appointments and discussions with Discovery regarding the possible distribution of the Bundesliga live games acquired by Discovery on the Sky platform, said the Sky spokesman. “At these occasions, Discovery has not made us any offer that can be refinanced in the market even to the slightest degree. Sky, for its part, has made Discovery its own offer in summer 2016. But Discovery has not responded to this to date. If this changes in the near term, we are open to further discussions any time.”
