The decision, however, is tied to one significant condition: the DFL must ensure that highlights from Saturday’s matches are shown on free-to-air television before 20:00 CET.
The cartel office said that that the bundled marketing constitutes a cartel of the Bundesliga clubs, which is only acceptable if consumers are entitled to share the associated benefits. By ensuring that an “attractive alternative” remains on free-to-air TV, the watchdogs want to avoid a situation where pay-TV operators which acquire the live transmission rights use their predominant market position to charge “inflated subscription prices”.
The decision comes as a severe blow for pay-television operator Premiere, which had been hoping to offer its subscribers increased exclusivity by having free-to-air coverage only available in a later timeslot.
