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German Soccer TV Deal Worth Billions Threatened to Collapse

DPA news agency (win)July 24, 2008

A 3 billion-euro ($4.6 billion) television deal for German soccer is on the verge of collapse.

https://p.dw.com/p/EiuT
A TV camera at a Bundesliga match
German officials say the deal is a price cartelImage: AP

The president of the German cartel office, Bernhard Heitzer, said Thursday, July 24, in Bonn that the central marketing model put forward by the German Football League (DFL) prevents clubs from reaching individual media deals and is effectively a price cartel.

The move puts in jeopardy an agreement between the DFL and media mogul Leo Kirch's subsidiary Sirius to market the rights to Bundesliga matches from 2009.

Kirch's group had pledged to pay 500 million euros per season from 2009/2010 for the rights, 60 million euros more than the league currently receives.

DFL executives, including president Reinhard Rauball, are currently meeting in Frankfurt to discuss the decision.

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