Discovery keeps Bundesliga games, obtains injunction against Sky ads

Discovery has secured a provisional injunction against Sky in Germany over the pay TV operator advertising that it would make all of the matches from the forthcoming Bundesliga football season available to subscribers, despite some games only being available on Eurosport.

News of the injunction, first reported by German news site DWDL.de, came as Discovery started marketing Eurosport Player, which will carry some matches exclusively.

Eurosport’s complete offering, including Bundesliga rights, will be available to German subscribers for an annual subscription of €29.99 an offer valid until August, with day passes available for €9.99.

Discovery secured rights to Package A from the German football league (DFL) in the latest round of rights negotiations for the Bundesliga, giving it rights to Friday evening, Sunday afternoon and Monday evening matches.

After a tense standoff at the start of this year, Discovery and Sky struck an agreement for the carriage of the former’s channels on the pay TV platform, including Eurosport 2. However, the agreement did not cover the Eurosport Bundesliga rights.

While Sky had expected ultimately to secure the rights to include the games in its offering, the pair have failed to strike a deal acceptable to both, and Discovery has now obtained an injunction in the Cologne regional court calling on Sky to cease misleading advertising.