ARD, Germany’s public broadcaster and Infront Sports & Media, the international sports marketing company, have announced an exclusive media rights agreement for comprehensive national broadcast coverage of Germany’s FC Bayern München and the Netherlands National Team friendly game.

The match scheduled for 22 May 2012 is taking place only three days after the UEFA Champions League Final, with both events being held at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

The media rights agreement covers the all important domestic territory for the match, which promises to be one of the year’s main football highlights in Germany. First broadcast agreements have also been signed for the international market, including Portugal and Brazil.

The ARD has acquired the rights to offer live as well as delayed and highlights coverage across all its media platforms, including its regional public broadcaster channels. The full match will be aired live on the main ARD channel.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, CEO of FC Bayern München, said: “We look very much forward to this rare and exciting football match. Only two and a half weeks ahead of the UEFA EURO 2012™, this will be a major highlight for all fans: With many national players in the squad, FC Bayern München will put the vice World Champion and one of the European Championship favourites to the test. FC Bayern München against the Netherlands will be a football spectacular.”

Volker Herres, Head of ARD Programming, added: “German football fans can look forward to this period of highlights with the national and international club competitions culminating in May before all eyes are directed towards the Ukraine and Poland in June. The unique head-to-head of FC Bayern and the Netherlands is the best event one can think of as a transition between the club and the national team phase and the ARD Group looks forward to delivering this unforgettable sports experience to the fans.”

Günter Netzer, Executive Director at Infront, said: “The fact that public broadcaster ARD secured the media rights for the German home market demonstrates the sporting value of this unique football event. The high level of attention that a game involving the Dutch national team generates was clearly demonstrated in the end of 2011 when the Germany versus Netherlands friendly reached almost 13 million TV viewers.”

A unique sporting spectacle
The match is the amicable result of a dispute between FC Bayern München and the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) with respect to the absence of Arjen Robben for one half of the 2010/2011 season due to an injury sustained at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The Netherlands FA and the German record-breaking champions have agreed to stage the friendly. All national team players on both sides are supposed to be involved.

Production and broadcaster servicing
As exclusive organiser of the event, Infront is handling all commercial aspects of the match, including the distribution of media and marketing rights, ticketing and production. The production infrastructure has already been put into place for a major HD quality broadcast that will ensure the highest standards in HD 16:9 format with more than 15 cameras providing pitch action from all angles. Additionally, Infront’s Broadcaster Servicing team will act as the first point of contact, supporting ARD and other broadcasters in all their operations.

(Infront Sports & Media AG Press Release)