After the TV rights to the Bundesliga have been awarded, the broadcasters are now beginning to negotiate personnel. Sought-after specialists are on the market, and ARD is relying on a new commentator for international matches. An overview.
The unexpected plus in the billion-dollar TV rights deal made Hans-Joachim Watzke visibly proud. German professional football got a result “where the whole of Europe will sit up and take notice. “That’s a strong signal from the Bundesliga,” said the presidential spokesman for the German Football League. The DFL will collect 4.484 billion euros for the German-language TV rights over the next four seasons in the summer of 2025 – 84 million more than the current deals.
The negotiations over the rights are now followed by poker over the TV personnel. Many contracts that moderators, commentators and experts have with the broadcasters expire with the rights period. An overview of broadcasters and personalities.
DAZN
At DAZN, contracts usually run for one year. That means: There must be new negotiations with moderator Laura Wontorra and experts like Sami Khedira. Wontorra is completely free of contract from the end of the season and there is great interest in the top presenter in the industry. What is certain is that DAZN, which continues to have the Bundesliga and Champions League in its program, definitely wants to keep it! This also applies to RTL, where it presents, among other things, “Ninja Warrior Germany”. DAZN is expected to continue with Michael Ballack until at least 2026.
DAZN replaced presenter Alex Schlüter’s departure to Prime Video with internal forces such as Daniel Herzog, Max Siebald and Lena Cassel. It is possible that you can also look externally.
The biggest change is that DAZN is taking over the Bundesliga conference from Sky. The broadcaster is already making a switch to the Champions League in the style of its competitor. Many DAZN voices were able to gain conference experience there. Reinforcements should be brought in here at certain points.
Sky
Although Sky no longer has to cover the four to five afternoon games on Saturday twice with conference and individual broadcasts, it still has plenty of commentator needs in the 1st and 2nd leagues, the cup and the Premier League. There are more redistributions here than major personnel changes.
Frank Buschmann wanted to step down as a commentator on Sky at the end of the 2024/25 season. Now he says: “I’m just sorting myself out. My family forbids me to quit. It just depends on what might be fun and meaningful. My entire life has been shaped by sport, so I’m waiting to see if something comes along that fits. But that is completely open. I’m particularly pleased that everyone won the rights tender! I can’t yet say where my energy will go from summer 2025.”
Sat.1
The broadcaster once again secured the rights to nine live games from the 1st and 2nd leagues as well as the relegation. Moderator Matthias Opdenhövel has been appointed and his contract has been extended. In the expert position, the broadcaster checks whether collaboration with Stefan Kuntz, now sports director at HSV, is practical. Otherwise there will be a change. Sat.1, for example, relied on Markus Babbel at certain points.
Commentator Wolff Fuss is sought after on the market: In addition to Sat.1 and its long-standing broadcaster Sky, RTL is also said to be interested. There he took over European Championship games in the summer as part of a cooperation with MagentaTV – alongside expert Lothar Matthäus. However, RTL has a top man for international matches and the Europa League in Marco Hagemann.
RTL
RTL secured the rights to the second league’s top game on Saturday evening. Thanks to the European Cup, the station has a pool of commentators. The top candidates are Cornelius Küpper and Robby Hunke.
The first
ARD has an established trio at the Bundesliga sports show with Esther Sedlaczek, Alexander Bommes and Lea Wagner. However, Sedlaczek’s contract is expiring and talks are ongoing. It would be a surprise if she didn’t stay with the first: The station is very happy with her, she also moderates shows like “Quizduell-Olymp” and “Ask the Mouse”, and she also gets along well with expert Bastian Schweinsteiger extended until 2027.
Internally, ARD is making changes to the commentary team. According to information from “Sport Bild”, Philipp Sohmer from SWR is moving up to the top ranks, which will in future be used for broadcasts of highlight games of the national team, at major tournaments and in the DFB Cup. So far he has commented on games for “Sportschau”, but is also the gymnastics expert for ARD. Tom Bartels and Christina Graf complete the commentator trio.
ZDF
The second team has recently repositioned itself in many positions – through retirements such as commentator Béla Réthy. As a result, Gari Paubandt gets more appearances in the DFB Cup, women’s international matches and the top games in the Bundesliga. Lili Engels, Lena Kesting, Amelie Stiefvatter, Franziska Müllers and Florian Zschiedrich are often seen in moderation and interviews.
Sport 1
The station retained the rights on Sunday mornings to continue the “double pass”. Discussions about further collaboration are underway with the proven team around moderator Florian König. However, the station lost the top second division game to RTL. The presenters Ruth Hofmann and Katharina Kleinfeldt also appear as a one-two, but they could take a look around and see what the market has to offer. Kleinfeldt, who is currently presenting the Darts World Cup for Sport 1, has already worked for Prime Video at Wimbledon. Other pay platforms such as DAZN are also an option.
For commentators like Oliver Forster and Markus Höhner, the second division game is no longer necessary. “I’m proud that we made this game so attractive that RTL, the largest private broadcaster, picked it up,” says Forster, who is a candidate for the new DAZN conference: “I’m open to an Amarena cherry on top the cake in my portfolio.”
The text was designed for the sports competence center (WELT, SPORT PICTURE, BILD) researched and first published in SPORT BILD.
