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DFB partners with Infront for media rights sales

Germany

Germany

The Deutscher Fussball-Bund (DFB), Germany’s national football association, has appointed Infront Sports & Media, the international sports marketing company, as its international media rights advisor. The agreement covers both the DFB Cup and all home matches of the DFB national football team, including qualifiers and friendlies.

The contract in place with respect to both properties covers the media rights sales to the international market across all platforms. Territories not included are Austral-Asia, selected Eastern European territories, the German speaking market and the home market of the respective competitor for the national team matches (i.e. the second party rights).

Extended involvement in German football
Infront has a long history of working with the DFB, handling the advertising and marketing of the DFB national team games for over 30 years. Since 2007, Infront has also marketed the sponsorship rights for the DFB Cup – a partnership which has recently been extended for a further four years.

Wolfgang Niersbach, General Secretary of the DFB, said: “This new agreement will allow us to take full advantage of Infront’s familiarity with our top properties, whilst also benefitting from the company’s strong media rights expertise and broadcast network. Working with one experienced partner to cover both the media and marketing aspects of the national games and the DFB Cup makes solid business sense. It builds a strong foundation for their all-round future success and will benefit the clubs as well as German football across the board at youth and amateur levels.”

Infront already holds a strong track record in media rights sales for premium football properties – partnering with international and national associations as well as domestic leagues. The company has been appointed by FIFA to market the Asian media rights for the FIFA World Cup™ and other FIFA events until 2018. Furthermore, Infront supports seven national football federations in Europe in their media rights sales. In Italy, it is the exclusive media rights advisor for the Lega Serie A and B as well as for the national Coppa Italia.

Günter Netzer, Executive Director at Infront, said: “Our valued partnership with the DFB is among the longest in the sports business industry and we thank the federation very much for its on-going trust. In German football, Infront already holds a leading market position in sponsorship marketing and stadium advertising and we look forward to also contributing our comprehensive expertise in media rights distribution to further strengthen international coverage of the DFB national games and the DFB Cup as premium football properties.”

High domestic audience figures – strong international potential
Based on the DFB’s remarkable young player development, the DFB national team is today among the top teams worldwide. It ranked second in the UEFA EURO 2008™ and third in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Following a highly competitive qualification phase for the UEFA EURO 2012™, the squad is a top favourite for the upcoming competition and its matches constantly reach  high audiences – at peak times up to almost 13 million viewers in the home market.

The DFB Cup is one of the most prestigious club knock-out competitions in Europe. For the 2010/11 season eight matches were broadcast by the German public state broadcasters ARD / ZDF reaching a cumulative audience of 60 million. With the Bundesliga being one of the strongest leagues in Europe, the German clubs are highly appealing to foreign players – a fact that further strengthens international interest for the competition.

Infront’s Broadcaster Servicing team provides further support
The games of the DFB Cup and the national team will mostly be produced in HD and SD 16:9 formats, involving more than 20 cameras. The international live signal will be provided via satellite with English commentary and international graphics. Additionally, Infront’s Broadcaster Servicing team will look after the contracted broadcasters to provide a first point of contact at the venues and act as the link between broadcasters and the production operation.

(Infront Press Release)