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Austrian Bundesliga is planning its own TV platform from 2026!
The Austrian Bundesliga is planning to market its own media rights from summer 2026. Board member Christian Ebenbauer is aiming for a “direct to consumer” model in order to strengthen the league financially and ensure optimal transmission channels.
Austrian Bundesliga is planning its own TV platform from 2026!
The Austrian Bundesliga is facing a fundamental reform of its TV broadcasts. From summer 2026, the league plans to market its media rights via its own platform. The chairman of the board, Christian Ebenbauer, announced this at a club conference. At the moment, the 2025/26 season will continue to be broadcast by the previous rights holder Sky, but the current offers from other bidders do not show the desired positive development of the league, as Ebenbauer noted. The Bundesliga has therefore decided to manage the TV rights itself.
The current contract with Sky expires in the summer of 2026, and the Bundesliga has already been pursuing plans for a “direct to consumer” model for around a year and a half. An economic analysis has shown that this model is best suited to making the Bundesliga future-proof. A business plan for the project was discussed in advance in June 2024, which includes several options and strategies.
Self-marketing and technical infrastructure
The ideas for self-marketing are aimed at selling the league games directly to end customers. This concept aims to establish the Bundesliga as a media company, possibly in collaboration with external partners. Discussions with potential investors are taking place in parallel, as high initial capital is required, especially for technology and personnel. However, no financial support from the clubs is planned, which places the responsibility solely on the league and its new structures.
The league is also considering offering free TV, secondary or post-production rights as part of its new marketing. Collaboration with established providers for the technical infrastructure is not ruled out, but objective reporting remains an important concern, similar to the model of the German Football League (DFL), which produces the global basic TV signal for the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga.
Future outlook
By the end of 2023, fans should be informed about how and where the Bundesliga will be shown from summer 2026. The discussion about the feasibility of an own TV platform has already begun, with the Dutch league being cited as a model, which dared to do something similar with its own media company in 2008. The Bundesliga seems determined to take this step in order to further promote its growth and position itself in the market in the long term.
The coming months could be crucial for the future of the league, as the tender for the new rights period from 2026 remains active and exchanges with bidders continue. The implementation of these projects could fundamentally change the face of Austrian football.
Laola1 reports that the Bundesliga wants to usher in a new era with these steps. Those too crown emphasizes that developments should be communicated transparently while Pulse24 highlights the challenges facing the league.