A major sports player has emerged on TV in Germany. Since RTL took over Sky on June 1st, the companies and therefore the programs have continued to grow together. Particularly in sport, as a spectator you notice how rights are pushed back and forth. Since it is partly about paid rights that are transferred to free TV, the fan asks himself: How much remains exclusively on pay TV, and what else will you get to see in the future without a subscription?
There are upper limits for the various rights. In the case of the Bundesliga, the license agreements specify how many games Sky can broadcast on free TV for promotional purposes. There are five each in the first and second half of the season, so a total of ten per season. Theoretically, Sky could also sell these to broadcasters like Sat.1 or ARD, as the broadcaster previously did for one to two million euros per game. But RTL is now the master of the house and prefers to broadcast the games itself on the main channel. So far, RTL has shown Leipzig against Gladbach on the first matchday, HSV against Cologne on the fourth matchday and Mainz against Leverkusen on the fifth matchday. More will follow.
There has already been a cooperation in the 2nd league since 2024, under which three Sky conferences per season are shown on Sundays on RTL. The broadcast of the Saturday evening game is now being produced by a joint team that creates the images for RTL/Nitro and Sky.
Complicated situation in the DFB Cup
RTL has its own free TV rights for three games in the DFB Cup this season. It started with HEBC against BVB in the first round. These are supplemented by additional games that the free-to-air channel RTL gets from Sky. The following applies here: Up to seven games would be possible. RTL has a free hand with the first two, RTL would have to have the DFB approve the remaining five.
Because the association must always keep an eye on the other TV partners. ARD has eight games, ZDF has four. In the first round, RTL showed Würzburg against Cologne and Saarbrücken against Hertha BSC. The second round game between HSV and Eintracht Frankfurt can also be seen on free TV on October 27th at 6 p.m.
All 63 cup games shown by Sky will also be shown on RTL+ this season. The advantage for the broadcaster: The broadcasts produced are simply taken over. Since Sky holds the pay rights, it is possible to show the games with another subscription offer without any restrictions. Here the RTL Group has to decide for itself whether there is a cannibalization effect for the Sky subscription through RTL+. In the Premier League, one top game per match day from the Sky rights package is shown on RTL+.
The situation is more complex with the Europa League and the Conference League: Sky previously had no rights in Germany, but now these are part of the portfolio via RTL. However, the RTL+ program is not simply adopted here. Instead, Sky independently selects up to ten games and shows the broadcasts from Sky Austria.
What it looks like in Formula 1 and the NFL
“Based on the most efficient production processes possible, we have decided to broadcast Sky Austria’s existing live production of the Europa League and Conference League on Sky Sport in Germany in the future,” said RTL. “With an independent game selection for the productions on RTL and RTL+, we work synergistically from the same teams.” This means: RTL+ and Sky show a different selection of games.
A number of NFL games are also shown on RTL and Sky, for example the night games on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. There are two Sunday evening games on RTL (7 p.m. and 10:25 p.m.), two more on Sky and another on RTL+. Thanks to RTL's NFL rights, Sky can also start its own football channel and show two conferences (in German and English).
In Formula 1, among other things, seven races (six this season) can also be seen on RTL parallel to Sky. It is still unclear how the racing series will proceed next year.
There are no combined subscription packages for RTL+ and the Sky platform Wow, but they are expected to come this year. RTL+ is set to become part of the Sky portfolio from 2027. RTL+ currently costs from 9.99 euros per month. Sport at Wow costs from 29.99 euros per month. The Sky Bundesliga package has a monthly price of 30 euros in the first year, the sports package 25 euros. The combination of both costs 35 euros.
