The Austrian Bundesliga (ÖFBL) has officially opened its invitation to tender process for domestic and international broadcast rights from the 2026-27 season onwards. This move marks a significant opportunity for TV broadcasters, digital platform operators, telcos, and rights agencies interested in acquiring these valuable sports media assets.
While the league has invited various entities to request the relevant tender documents by April's end, it has not yet communicated a specific timeline or detailed the packages or term length on offer. The current holder of both domestic and international rights is Sky, which secured a deal worth approximately €300m ($325m), averaging €37.5m per season from 2018-19 to 2025-26.
Sky's dominance in securing these main live rights has faced minimal competition over the years. However, with this new round of bidding set to commence soon, there could be potential shifts in this landscape.
Other stakeholders
Public broadcaster ORF currently holds highlights rights to all 195 league matches per season. These highlights are aired on their ORF1 linear channel shortly after each match concludes. Additionally, ORF sublicenses from Sky to show four matches per season on a free-to-air basis.
OneFootball, a global media platform known for streaming Austrian Bundesliga matches outside of Austria for several seasons now also plays an important role in distributing content related to ÖFBL games internationally.
Consultancy involvement
SN1 Consulting based out of Munich is advising ÖFBL on its domestic and international sales strategy including exploring direct-to-consumer opportunities which could potentially revolutionize how fans access content related to their favorite teams and players.
Christian Ebenbauer, CEO of ÖFBL mentioned that they are considering following Danish Superliga’s new host broadcast operation as an example while deciding their future course of action regarding broadcasting operations. Ebenbauer expressed optimism about the level of interest in the rights, stating that there are several interested parties at this time. However, he also noted that it remains to be seen whether these entities will make concrete offers.
Since Sky last retained the rights, Canal Plus has emerged as a potential competitor in Austria's premium sports rights market with its acquisition of Uefa club competition matches from 2024-25 to 2026-27.
