A new media rights deal for one of the higher-profile international soccer leagues may be a sign of things to come in the sports rights marketplace.
Versant has acquired rights to the German Bundesliga and will distribute games on USA Network and the streaming service Fandango, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported Tuesday. Fandango, a free streaming service previously known as Vudu, has not previously carried live sports. Bundesliga previously aired on ESPN under a deal that began in 2020.
The new five-year deal is worth an average of $20 million annually, per Marchand, down from the $30 million/year the league previously received from ESPN.
The Bundesliga becomes one of a handful of sports properties Versant acquired independent of its prior affiliation with Comcast and NBCUniversal, joining the Pac-12 and League One Volleyball. It will complement the company’s other international soccer offering, the English Premier League package it inherited from its days with NBCU.
Previously, the Italian Serie A reached a one-year extension with Paramount to remain on CBS and Paramount+ through this coming season. ESPN’s deal for the Spanish La Liga, worth a whopping $175 million/year, runs through 2028-29.
The Bundesliga deal is the latest sign that the media rights crunch facing sports media’s power players is opening the door for smaller companies to compete for new properties.
In a lower-profile deal announced Tuesday, FloSports acquired exclusive rights to hockey’s IIHF Men’s World Championship under a four-year deal that begins next season. (The IIHF event is not to be confused with the NHL-sponsored World Cup of Hockey, which is set to return from a decade-plus hiatus in 2028.) This past year’s tournament aired primarily on NHL Network, with some game windows on ESPN+.
