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Business of TV Sport
Sportel Monaco 2011

DFL to create regulatory “buffer zone” with early tender

The Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL), the German football league, will tender the domestic rights to the Bundesliga for the 2013-14 season onwards next year, leaving plenty of time for regulatory scrutiny of any deals.
The current four-year deals, for 2009-10 to 2012-13, were agreed in December 2008. The German cartel authority, the Bundeskartellamt, had struck down a deal agreed in October 2007 for the current contract period between the DFL and German media entrepreneur Leo Kirch. The DFL also expects the European Commission to scrutinise any new deals.

Separately, the DFL is in talks with the domestic pay-television rights-holders Sky Deutschland and Deutsche Telekom about broadcasting one live match per week in 3D. The 3D broadcasts could begin as soon as January 2011, after the Bundesliga winter break. Sky Deutschland owns the satellite and cable pay-television and internet rights. Deutsche Telekom has the IPTV and mobile rights.