Big pay day for German soccer

Germany's 36 professional soccer clubs could expect income of 2.511 billion euros ($3.301 billion) until 2017, the German Soccer League (DFL) announced Tuesday after successfully auctioning off broadcast rights for the next four seasons.

Marking a 52-percent increase in rights income compared with the previous four-year period, an average of 628 million euros will be distributed among them, DFL said.

"Today's decision marks a quantum leap for the Bundesliga, and is a good day for German soccer," DFL president Reinhard Rauball told journalists in Frankfurt.

Rauball noted that DFL was eager to respect the interests of soccer clubs, as well as the legitimate concerns of soccer fans and media partners - considerations that he described as "fully met."

Sky wins it all

Pay-TV operator Sky Deutschland has emerged as the big corporate winner from the auction, ensuring rights for cable and satellite broadcasts, as well as for Internet and mobile network transmissions.

In the previous period, Sky already owned cable and satellite rights, paying 412 million euros per season to DFL. German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom owned the Internet rights.

During the auction, which considered offers from a total of 15 bidders, Sky Deutschland was able to pry those rights from Deutsche Telekom in an attempt seen as boosting rights prices.

After the auction, Germany's Bundesliga has edged past French Ligue 1 in terms of revenue, earning German clubs 58 million euros more per year.

Top earners in global soccer remain English clubs after the Premier League has managed to secure annual pay-TV rights alone to the tune of 770 million euros.

uh/acb (SID, dpa, Reuters)