Boost for Bundesliga
GERMANY’S Bundesliga will attract legions of new armchair fans around the world this weekend when it becomes the first of Europe’s major soccer leagues to resume after a two-month shutdown due to the coronavirus.
In normal circumstances, the German game, dominated in recent seasons by Bayern Munich, lacks the marketing pull of England’s Premier League or Spain’s La Liga, which boasts the world’s two biggest clubs in terms of revenue – Barcelona and Real Madrid. Yet even with a subdued atmosphere given the absence of passionate fans, with all games being played behind closed doors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Bundesliga can use the spotlight to show its worth to devotees missing live action around the globe.
“With the Bundesliga as the only league to be broadcast on TV, I expect we will have an audience of a billion,” Bayern CEO Karl-heinz Rummenigge told Sportbild magazine this week. In Britain, BT Sport is showing all nine Bundesliga matches live this weekend, including the Ruhr valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.
The return of live action will also enliven the advertising industry, with the prospect of big audiences set to drive up rates for commercials during matches.
Misha Sher, vice president for sport and entertainment at Mediacom, a WPP agency that buys ad space for clients, described it as a “huge deal” at a time when people have so much time on their hands.
“Football fans will tune in and watch top level football because they’ve been deprived of that for months,” he said. In Scandinavia, all Bundesliga games will be available on the Viaplay streaming service with selected games on pay-tv channels, said broadcaster NENT.
“We know how strong the appetite for live sport is, so we are delighted to offer top-class football to our viewers once again,” said a NENT spokesperson. Gambling companies also welcomed the resumption of top-level soccer in Europe, with British bookmaker William Hill describing it as encouraging in an update on its business on Friday. | Reuters