Deutsche Telekom (DT), the German telecommunications behemoth, has secured an extensive package of soccer rights from FIFA, the global governing body for football. This deal covers multiple World Cup events across different categories and is being touted as the "largest World Cup package ever."
The rights package that Deutsche Telekom has secured includes games from four significant tournaments: the 2026 Men's FIFA World Cup, the 2027 Women's FIFA World Cup, and the U20 World Cups in 2025 and 2027. This acquisition is a landmark achievement for Deutsche Telekom as it represents their first time securing broadcasting rights for a FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Brazil in 2027.
All games covered under this deal will be broadcast on DT's MagentaTV OTT streaming service. In addition to live matches, MagentaTV will also host highlights, game clips, interviews, shoulder content, and ancillary programming. Despite the exclusivity of this agreement with FIFA, Deutsche Telekom may sublicense some games to public service broadcasters such as ARD and ZDF or commercial free-to-air network RTL. This move would ensure compliance with German broadcasting law that mandates free-to-air coverage of fixtures involving the German national team in major competitions.
Reciprocal deals & past precedents
A similar arrangement was seen during the 2024 European Championships hosted in Germany where DT held exclusive rights but sublicensed them to ARD and ZDF. In return for these sublicensing rights during Euro 2024, DT acquired broadcasting privileges for all 64 games of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup - including exclusive access to sixteen matches.
The new agreement brings DT's total coverage up to an impressive tally of 272 games. This is largely due to the expanded men’s World Cup format of 48 teams, which alone accounts for 104 matches.
DT head of TV, Arnim Butzen, said:
“48 participating nations, 104 matches over six weeks – this is the biggest football tournament of all time. For us and our partners, this will be a sprint over a marathon distance. This is especially true due to the different time zones in the three host countries. We are happy to accept this logistical challenge and want to make the World Cup an unforgettable football experience for our customers.”
Challenge of broadcasting across time zones
DT acknowledges the challenge of broadcasting the expanded men's World Cup in 2026, which will take place across multiple time zones with a significant difference to European time. However, as a long-time partner of German soccer's DFB governing body and the German national team - a partnership renewed in late 2024 through to the 2026 tournament - DT is well-equipped to handle this task.
Deutsche Telekom's acquisition of this extensive FIFA World Cup rights package marks an exciting development for sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts alike. With comprehensive coverage across multiple tournaments and categories, viewers can look forward to an unprecedented level of access to their favorite football events.
