DAZN is threatening legal action against Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), the governing body of the Bundesliga, over the allocation of rights for the 2025-26 to 2028-29 seasons.
The streaming services claims that DFL has acted unlawfully in not accepting its bid for Package B of the tender. Instead, the rights have been retained by the current holder of the package, Sky.
Package B is the largest package available and features the exclusive broadcast rights to 196 live games, including five Saturday 15.30 kick-offs, the weekly Friday night matches, and end of season play-offs.
According to the Financial Times, co-chief executives Steffen Merkel and Marc Lenz threatening to file a claim in the German courts challenging decision. DAZN has until Tuesday to post a legal challenge to the decision.
In a statement DFL said: “The DFL has conducted the auction of rights package B and the entire tender process in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner in accordance with the commitments made to the Federal Cartel Office and the provisions of the tender documents.
“The bids submitted by DAZN Limited did not comply with the tender and were therefore not considered in the award process. The document subsequently submitted by DAZN from a bank does not change the decision to award the rights to another bidder. There is no basis and no justification for the withdrawal of the decision demanded by DAZN.
“The DFL once again firmly rejects DAZN’s repeated argument that it was not correctly informed about the award conditions. Of course, the conditions were known to all interested parties in the auction.
“The DFL has clarified its position in several letters to DAZN and made several offers of dialogue. The “lack of reaction from the DFL” publicly cited by DAZN is incomprehensible.
Last week, DAZN told Broadband TV News: “DAZN has concerns with elements of the process and has raised these issues directly with the DFL. DAZN remains committed to delivering value for the Bundesliga, its member clubs and their fans. We will not comment further on this topic at this stage.”
