German sports TV broadcaster Sport1 will close its subscription streaming platform Sport1 Extra at the end of May 2024.
As part of a new strategy, the video offering will in future be bundled in the media library on Sport1.de as a central video destination on the web and in the app, according to Sport1, adding that details about the new integrated offering of the Sport1.de media library with an optimised structure and additional content will be provided at launch.
Sport1 Extra was launched in September 2021. One of the highlights were the matches of the German Women’s Volleyball Bundesliga (VBL). The pay-TV rights, which Sport1 still held for the next two seasons, will be returned to VBL. Sport1 will continue to show at least 30 VBL games per season live on its free-TV channel in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.
“We would like to thank Daniel Sattler and the entire Volleyball Bundesliga for their partnership and trusting cooperation. Through the joint project ‘Sport1 Extra’, we have taken the Volleyball leagues to a new level in recent years. We are therefore delighted to continue to accompany the Women’s Bundesliga on free-TV and are confident that we can continue the successful series with Dyn as a VBL partner,” said Annika Rody, Director Media Rights at Sport1.
The games that were previously shown on Sport1 Extra will in future be shown on streaming service Dyn. The matches of the Men’s Volleyball Bundesliga can already be seen on the subscription platform.
“Sport1 will continue to be a key partner in our media strategy with the weekly broadcast window for the Women’s Bundesliga on free-TV,” added Daniel Sattler, Managing Director of the Volleyball Bundesliga. “We are therefore very grateful to Sport1 for continuing our cooperation. At the same time, the return of the pay-TV rights gives us the opportunity to reorganise the media coverage of all leagues and to offer Volleyball fans the men’s and women’s leagues on a single platform in future.”
