Dubai Sports television channel said it has signed a deal with Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league, and the Sportsman Media Group, to clinch the exclusive broadcasting rights of all the German league matches in the Mena region.

Sportsman Media Group is the sports rights and marketing agency that owns all media rights to Bundesliga games (outside Germany).

With this agreement, the Dubai-based channel, part of Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI), becomes the official and exclusive broadcaster of all the German league matches in the region.

The deal was signed by Rashid Al Amiri, general manager of Dubai Sports channel, Thomas Krohne, founder and CEO of the Sportsman Media Group, and Jorg Daubitzer, chief operating officer of the DFL (German football league) Sports Enterprises.

The contract will enable Dubai Sports channel to broadcast all Bundesliga matches via its two free-to-air stations to more than 100 million households in 23 Arab and North-African countries.

The 24-hour free-to-air Dubai Sports channel has won the rights for all Bundesliga games following an intense bidding process after a tough competition with several high-calibre global broadcasting corporations.

Expressing his delight to continue the Dubai Sports channel’s association with the German football league games, Al Amiri said: 'We are thrilled to win broadcasting rights for the Bundesliga matches, one of the most professional soccer leagues in the world that attracts millions of viewers globally.'

'Our successful bid validates our status as the region’s widely popular sports channel that offers top-notch bouquet of programming and this has been acknowledged by the German football organisations,' he observed.

“Over the past few years, we have consistently brought German league matches to Dubai Sports viewers with additional spotlights such as ‘Kick Off’ which gives an overview of each game prior to the start and analyses of other games during the week,' Al Amiri added.

'As a comprehensive sports channel, we are keen to further strengthen our programme offerings, especially in football, in the near future.”

Dubai Sports channel has been broadcasting various German league matches, live and exclusive, over the past few years on its satellite channels 1 and 2.

Krohne said: “We are glad to sign the Bundesliga broadcasting rights contract with Dubai Sports channels for the key territory as our new and innovative partner. We believe Dubai Sports channel will contribute a great deal to further enhance the value and appeal of Bundesliga, as it always has in the past.'

Daubitzer said: “When you have a partner of the caliber and status of Dubai Sports channel, which has provided some of the best coverage for German football league in the last three years, it is imperative the relationship has to be sustained and renewed at every opportunity.'

“Although we had received overwhelming offers for broadcast rights from various Arab and Asian networks, our choice was undoubtedly Dubai Sports as the channel has already played a splendid role in providing excellent coverage of Bundesliga games on a weekly basis,” he added.

Dubai Sports channel offers its viewers an expansive range of premium programming schedule that includes live or exclusive coverage of most of the key regional and international sporting events.-TradeArabia News Service