Tradition, passion and suspense – the weekly top match of Europe’s most attractive second football division (2. Bundesliga) has a new TV home. In the DFL (German Football League) media rights auction, which ended on 5 December 2024, RTL Deutschland secured the exclusive free-to-air TV rights to broadcast the Saturday evening games of the 2. Bundesliga. This coveted sports rights package is therefore moving to RTL Deutschland from the 2025/26 season onwards. The package, which covers a total of four seasons and 33 matches per season, will be shown live on free-to-air channels RTL or Nitro and simultaneously on streaming service RTL+.

RTL Deutschland has also secured an attractive highlights rights package for RTL+, giving fans access to all highlights from 617 Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga matches, alongside the relegation play-offs and the Super Cup. Up to 15 minutes of coverage per game will be shown immediately after the final whistle.

Inga Leschek, Chief Content Officer at RTL Deutschland, says: “The leading game of the 2. Bundesliga, featuring traditional clubs with loyal fan bases, offers even more top-class live sport on RTL, Nitro and RTL+ for the next season. These attractive rights packages give us maximum flexibility across all our distribution channels. The highlights rights package allows us to produce the first and fastest sports show of the match day – all the goals, all the emotions, right after the final whistle. Snackable, with different lengths, available on mobile devices and accessible anywhere, anytime – a customised and modern football offer for all fans. Our goal is to further strengthen our rapidly growing streaming service RTL+ and to generate sustainable profits from 2026 onwards; the Bundesliga rights are an important building block in these plans.”

With the acquisition of the Bundesliga rights, RTL Deutschland is expanding its high-calibre football portfolio. The portfolio now includes matches of the German national team, the Uefa Europa League and Uefa Conference League and – in cooperation with Sky Deutschland – three live conference broadcasts of the 2. Bundesliga per season, and a top match from the English Premier League per match week.