Volleyball Bundesliga broadens reach with Sport1, Sporttotal deals

German club competition the Volleyball Bundesliga (VBL) has extended its rights deal with sports broadcaster Sport1 and has signed a new partnership with media and technology company Sporttotal.

Sport1’s new deal runs for three seasons, from 2018-19 to 2020-21, and covers rights in Germany, as well as Austria and Switzerland.

The contract includes at least 33 main round and playoff matches per season from the women’s league, along with at least 12 from the men’s competition.

The rights package also includes the two semi-finals in the DVV Cup, the pre-season Supercup and highlight clips across Sport1.de and Sport1’s mobile platforms.

The VBL has also signed a three-season deal with Sporttotal through which the company will equip all competition sites of the 23 clubs with its fully automated camera technology and exclusively broadcast all games from the two leagues, with the exception of those broadcast by Sport1.