FOX Sports Adds Eight Live Bundesliga Matches to FOX Broadcast Schedule in 2016
FOX Sports is two months into its inaugural season as the U.S. home of the Bundesliga, a multi-platform commitment providing Germany’s top professional soccer league unprecedented coverage with more than 300 regular-season matches televised or streamed for the first time ever in America. Come 2016, FOX Sports raises that high bar even higher.
FOX Sports is adding eight live Bundesliga games on the FOX broadcast network on Saturdays in 2016 from Jan. 30 to the season’s final day on May 14, giving the league wider live-match exposure in the U.S. than ever before. Specific match-ups are to be determined. Excluding the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, FOX has not previously broadcast more than six live soccer matches from any one league or tournament over-the-air, and only broadcast two during its stewardship of U.S. EPL rights in early 2012.
“In order to maximize exposure for the league, its stars and quality of play, we’ve worked with our stations and affiliates to identify as many broadcast opportunities as possible, and we’re really excited to offer eight live Bundesliga matches in the second half of the season," said David Nathanson, FOX Sports Head of Business Operations. "We see the league having tremendous growth potential in the U.S., and we’re committed to that goal long-term.”
"We are very excited with the kick-off of the FOX partnership this summer. By adding eight live Bundesliga matches to the schedule in 2016, Bundesliga fans in the U.S. will enjoy even greater access to some of Europe’s most exciting soccer," said Joerg Daubitzer, Managing Director, DFL Sports Enterprises. "With such a strong global partner, the Bundesliga is positioned for further growth while connecting even better with our fans around the world."
The Bundesliga season consists of 306 matches played from August to May and are made available in the U.S. on FS1, FS2, FOX Soccer Plus and now FOX, while on the Spanish-language side, FOX Deportes is televising 105 matches. Additionally, every game televised on FOX, FS1 or FS2 is being streamed live on desktop computers via FOXSoccer.com, FOXSportsGO.com as well as the FOX Sports GO mobile app. All FOX Soccer Plus matches are streamed on the FOX Soccer 2 GO app.
In addition to making every Bundesliga match available for viewing, FOX Sports has raised the level of the league’s digital coverage as well. FOXSoccer.com now includes comprehensive coverage of the Bundesliga, offering news, game stories and opinion from a host of Germany-based writers. The popular FOX Soccer social media channels on platforms including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter boast dedicated Bundesliga coverage. FOXSports.com and FOX Sports mobile apps also feature Bundesliga-specific data-driven MatchTrax products for all games.
At this point of the season, Bayern Munich sits atop the Bundesliga standings at 8-0-0, followed by Borussia Dortmund (5-2-1) and Schalke 04 (5-1-2). Bayern boasts two of the loop’s leading scorers in Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller. Lewandowski leads all Bundesliga scorers with 12 goals to date, with teammate Muller ranking third with eight. Sandwiched between is Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 10.
Full schedule in PDF below.
