McDonald’s closed its branches in Russia weeks ago, Adidas withdrew, as did Coca-Cola, like almost all industrial companies that have drawn the consequences of Putin’s brutal attack on Ukraine and severed business relations with Russia, some earlier, others later. So not much from the West can be seen in Russia anymore, only Bundesliga football can still be seen on Russian television more than two months after the start of the war.
Despite the escalation in Ukraine, that will not change until the end of the current season. According to the German Football League (DFL), which is also responsible for marketing the international television rights, the remaining three Bundesliga match days will also be shown. The Russian television channel Match TV is currently broadcasting German football. Recently, however, the program had been switched off regularly. The game between Arminia Bielefeld and FC Bayern Munich, for example, was interrupted after about 30 minutes. Among other things, “Stop war, Putin” could be read on an advertising board. In many games, the peace sign can also be seen in the center circle on the lawn. The word “war” is banned in Russia after the tightening of the media law, there is only talk of “special operation”.
“The DFL is currently continuing to rely on the possibility of reaching people in Russia with messages of peace from the stadiums,” the league recently announced in Frankfurt. The fact that the transmission is repeatedly suspended is addressed to Match TV “with the necessary clarity”. It is good if appeals for peace are present for Russian viewers. So the DFL is continuing on its course, under the motto: kicking for peace.
The English and French leagues are letting the contracts rest
Apparently other leagues don’t see it that way. The Premier League, for example, can no longer be seen in Russia, and the English football league has spoken out against further broadcasts. The French Ligue 1 is also currently suspending the contracts. It is unclear how to proceed. The DFL has not yet decided whether the next Bundesliga season’s games will continue to be shown in Russia.
The DFL had already announced in March that it would donate the income from the contract with Match TV for humanitarian aid in Ukraine. A total of one million euros in donations should be collected. In the event that no more license payments are received from Russia, the DFL wants to bear the donation in full.
In general, the income from the sale of television rights is the largest source of income for German professional football, it now accounts for almost half of all sales. In the Corona pandemic, revenue fell sharply, mainly due to a lack of ticket and marketing revenues. The majority of the money comes from the sale of the rights for Germany, for example to the pay channels Sky and Dazn, but also to RTL, Sat 1 and the public broadcasters. However, marketing abroad has gained in importance in recent years. Internationally, however, there is significantly greater interest in the English Premier League with clubs that are popular around the world such as Manchester United.