Germany has had a growing issue with watching football on the television for quite some time. The main provider of the Bundesliga, DAZN, has raised its’ prices by more than 200% without adding any services over the years, with its’ subscription’s price currently sitting at 44.99 Euros per month. Fortunately, they also carry the Champions League. But DAZN also does not carry the DFB Pokal, so to watch all competitions German football fans need to buy the 34.99 EURO Sport subscription.
Things will get
worse in 2027, though. DAZN will no longer carry the Champions League as Paramount Plus gets the rights for the competition in Germany, as well, costing fans up to another 12.99 euros. But they will not stream the final of Europe’s top competition, because Netflix will do that. Their subscription fees in Germany go up to 13,99 Euro. To watch every domestic and Champions League match starting in, German football fans need to get four subscriptions and shell out unbelievable amount of money to watch every football match.
So many have, unsurprisingly, turned to piracy to watch football. It is simply the less obscenely expensive, simpler way to watch football in Germanay.
And, unsurprisingly, those in charge of German football have completely missed the point. Steffen Merkel, DFL’s managing director, denounced digital piracy of football in a recent interview:
“It astonishes me how some people downplay digital piracy,” Merkel professed, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “Users of illegal live streams are not only harming themselves enormously, but they shouldn’t be surprised if their devices become infected with malware or their credit card is suddenly used somewhere in the world. Everyone who nonchalantly talks about their manipulated receiver or new IPTV app at the pub needs to understand this.”
But, fortunately, the DFL is so good at handling this issue and are investing even more into preventing illegal streams:
We have this much better under control than other leagues because we have been active in copyright protection for many years together with our media partners and are currently investing even more in this area. Furthermore, our technical and legal options for taking action against providers and users are constantly evolving.”
Kicker added some data on piracy:
In Germany alone, the Association of Private Media estimates the damage caused by TV piracy at €1.8 billion annually. Nearly six million people in Germany regularly use illegal live sports streaming services.
BFW Analysis
Simply provide a better, simpler, cheaper and more streamlined product rather than the mess that things currently are and the demand for piracy will drop significantly. Investing so much money into preventing piracy, the inevitable reaction to the greed of the providers, rather than ensuring a better product is made is such a foolish decision. It seems as if things in this regardwill get worse before they get better.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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