‘Dawn of a new era’ as BBC, Sky share football rights with YouTube channels

Mark Goldbridge’s channel That’s Football

A new multi-year deal agreed with the German football league will see the BBC and Sky share live broadcasting rights to the Bundesliga with YouTubers for the first time.

The new rights deal not only brings the highest level of German football to free-to-air television in the UK via the BBC, but also YouTube channels The Overlap, which is fronted by former pro footballers such as Ian Wright, Gary Neville and Roy Keane, and That’s Football, the channel from Mark Goldbridge.

The deal marks the first time a top football league has granted live rights for an extensive package of matches to a content creator in Europe and will see matches live-streamed in a watch-along format popularised on YouTube.

The Bundesliga’s own YouTube channel will also broadcast all Friday evening matches of both the Bundesliga and Germany’s second division.

As part of the new agreement, BBC Sport will stream one match a week starting tomorrow when 2024-25 Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich face RB Leipzig.

The Bundesliga’s long-term partner, Sky Sports, will continue to exclusively screen the Saturday fixtures, while viewers will also be able to watch matches on a single pay-per-view basis in the UK via Amazon’s Prime Video.

The mix of traditional broadcasters, streamers and YouTube has been described as the “dawn of a new era” by journalist Manuel Veth, who covers German football for outlets such as Forbes.

It comes after CazéTV, the streaming platform created by Brazilian influencer Casimiro in partnership with LiveMode, secured online rights in Brazil to all 104 matches of next year’s FIFA World Cup.

Bundesliga International CEO Peer Naubert said: “We are delighted to announce our new-look line-up of great media partners as part of our multi-platform strategy in the UK and Ireland.

“Our approach is as diverse as our supporters: by combining established broadcasters with digital platforms and content creators, we are taking a progressive step in how top-level football can be experienced.

“This multi-layered strategy allows us to connect with more audiences across the UK and Ireland, giving every supporter the chance to engage with football as it’s meant to be in the way that suits them best.”

Alex Kay-Jelski, director of BBC Sport, said: “To be able to include Bundesliga matches within our live football offering is phenomenal, especially Bayern Munich’s opening game with England’s captain Harry Kane.”

“I’m proud BBC Sport has such an impressive portfolio of football coverage across all of our platforms, from live games to highlights, digital clips to breaking news on the website, we’ve got fans covered this season.”