BBC Sport has secured multi-year broadcasting rights to bring Bundesliga matches to UK fans for the start of the 2025-26 season.
As part of the new agreement, BBC Sport will stream one match a week, starting on Friday 22 August, when 2024-25 Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich face RB Leipzig.
The new rights deal not only brings the highest level of German football to free-to-air platforms for UK fans but expands BBC Sport’s extensive football offering.
All matches will be available to watch live on the BBC Sport website, app and on BBC iPlayer every Friday, with clips of the biggest in-game moments across BBC Sport’s social media channels (@BBCSport on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X).
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Alex Kay-Jelski, director of BBC Sport, said: “To be able to include Bundesliga matches within our live football offering is phenomenal, especially Bayern Munich’s opening game with England’s captain Harry Kane. I’m proud BBC Sport has such an impressive portfolio of football coverage across all of our platforms – from live games to highlights, digital clips to breaking news on the website, we’ve got fans covered this season.”
The first games to screen under the new deal will be Bayern Munich v RB Leipzig on 22 August at
19:30, Hamburger SV v FC St Pauli at the same time on 29 August and Bayer 04 Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt at 19:30 on 12 September. Cult anti-fascist club St Pauli will then return to UK screens for their away fixture at VfB Stuttgart on 19 September. All games will be available on the BBC Sport website, app & BBC iPlayer.
The Bundesliga is the highest level of the German football league system. It comprises 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2 Bundesliga. Well-known English players to have featured in the league include current Bayern hitman Kane and his predecessor at the club Owen Hargreaves, Jadon Sancho, who bid Manchester City’s youth system farewell to turn out for Borussia Dortmund and returned to the German club for a second spell from Manchester United in 2023/24, and Liverpool, Man City, England and Newcastle legend Kevin Keegan, who spent the final years of the seventies at Hamburger SV.
BBC Sport’s rights portfolio also includes FIFA World Cup 2026 and 2030, FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, the Olympic Games, UEFA Euro 2028, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, Wimbledon Championships, FA Cup, Women’s Super League and Match of the Day (Premier League and Champions League highlights).
Image: Ank Kumar/Creative Commons
