The German top-flight football league, Bundesliga, has recently announced a four-year extension of its broadcast deal with Southeast Europe-based media company, United Media. The extended contract will run through to the end of the 2028-29 season and covers nine countries.
The renewed agreement encompasses Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia. This is not a new venture for United Media as they have held Bundesliga rights in these countries since the 2021-22 campaign. Their current deal was set to expire at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Bundesliga matches are broadcast in these territories on various channels, including TV Arena Sport channels in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Sportklub in Croatia, and Sport TV in Slovenia.
In Bulgaria and Greece specifically, fans can catch all their favorite teams' action on Nova.
Representation from participating countries
Interestingly enough except for Cyprus every country involved in this broadcast tie-up has representation within the Bundesliga campaign for 2025-26. Some notable players include Croatian defender Josip Stanisic playing for Bayern Munich; Ermedin Demirovic from Bosnia-Herzegovina who plays as a striker for Stuttgart; and Serbian midfielder Andrija Maksimovic representing RB Leipzig among others.
Peer Naubert, chief executive of Bundesliga International, said:
“Working with long-term partners lays the foundation for delivering a world-class product, and by extending our collaboration with United Media, we have secured high-quality coverage in the Balkans, Bulgaria, Greece, and Cyprus. Historically, the Bundesliga has had more players from south-east Europe than any of the top five leagues and the region is a hotbed for fans who are passionate about our unique brand of football. Working directly with United Media, our focus is to deliver the best of the Bundesliga to those fans.”
In recent weeks there has been an increased demand globally for broadcasting rights to cover upcoming seasons of Bundesliga matches. Subscription streaming service DAZN secured rights in Japan while state-owned media and telecoms heavyweight Viettel acquired them for Vietnam. Additionally Sky Italia also agreed an extension with Bundesliga to continue coverage within Italy. June saw free-to-air channel PPTV secure rights within Thailand while domestically, Bundesliga will be covered live by Sky Deutschland and DAZN.
2025-26 season kickoff
The 2025-26 season is set to begin on Friday, August 22, with defending champions Bayern Munich taking on RB Leipzig. Bayern Munich recently added another trophy to their cabinet by defeating Stuttgart 2-1 in the German Supercup.
This renewed partnership between Bundesliga and United Media not only ensures that fans across nine countries can continue enjoying top-flight German football but also reinforces the global popularity of the league. As we look forward to a new season of thrilling matches, it's clear that Bundesliga's reach is expanding further than ever before.
