FOX Sports to televise, stream all Bundesliga matches
FOX Sports embarks on its inaugural season as the U.S. home to the Bundesliga, Germany's top professional soccer league, on Friday, Aug. 14, expanding its multi-platform domestic coverage to unprecedented levels. More than 300 regular-season matches are scheduled for live television or streaming in the U.S. for the first time ever, more than double past years, including 58 slated for FOX Sports 1.
The Bundesliga season consists of 306 matches played from August to May. In addition to the 58 games telecast on FOX Sports 1, 60 are earmarked for FOX Sports 2, and the remainder offered via FOX Soccer Plus. On the Spanish-language side, FOX Deportes is set to televise 105 matches. Additionally, every game televised on FOX Sports 1 or FOX Sports 2 is being streamed live on desktop computers via FOXSoccer.com as well as the FOX Sports GO mobile app. All FOX Soccer Plus matches are being streamed on the FOX Soccer 2 GO app.
"The Bundesliga is on the cusp of exponential growth here in the United States and throughout the world," said Bill Wanger, FOX Sports Executive Vice President, Programming, Research and Content Strategy. "We are thrilled to make every game from this world-class European league available on FOX Sports outlets, bolstering our position as the unrivaled leader in televised soccer in America."
In addition to making every Bundesliga match available on television, FOX Sports raises the level of the league's digital coverage as well. FOXSoccer.com is being updated to include comprehensive coverage of 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, are being programmed with dedicated Bundesliga coverage. FOXSports.com and FOX Sports mobile apps also feature new, Bundesliga-specific data-driven MatchTrax products for all games.
The first round of the Bundesliga season features six matches, officially kicking off on Friday, Aug. 14 with defending champion Bayern Munich taking on Hamburg. In a special telecast, the match is being offered on FOX Sports Regional Networks, FOX Sports 2, FOXSports.com and via FOX Sports' YouTube channel, with pregame coverage beginning at 2:00 PM ET. While Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund are also in action Week 1, last season's league runner-up Wolfsburg faces off against Eintracht Frankfurt on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, Aug. 16 with pregame coverage beginning at 9:00 AM ET.
Round 2 on Saturday, Aug. 22 is highlighted by a FOX Sports 1 doubleheader beginning with Hoffenheim vs. Bayern Munich at 9:30 AM ET, followed by Hamburg vs. Stuttgart at 12:30 PM ET. Wolfsburg takes the field in a Round 3 match on Friday, Aug. 28 (2:30 PM ET), battling Schalke on FOX Sports 1, while FOX Sports 2's big matchup of the weekend has Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen squaring off Saturday, Aug. 29, at 12:25 PM ET. The complete schedule through the first seven weeks accompanies this release. The remaining schedule is released as the season progresses.
The Bundesliga season warms up with the German Super Cup Saturday, Aug. 1 on FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes and live streamed at FOXSoccer.com. The match features the winners of last season's league championship, Bayern Munich, and Wolfsburg, winners of the DFB-Pokal, Germany's domestic cup competition. An encore presentation of the German Super Cup airs at 10:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 2.
Ian Joy joins FOX Sports as its lead Bundesliga studio host, sitting alongside a rotation of analysts including Eric Wynalda, like Joy a Bundesliga veteran. Joy, previously with beIN Sports, is a former soccer professional, having played in Germany, most notably at Hamburg, and also with Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer. Wynalda is the first American-born player to play for a top-level German club (Saarbrucken) and won the Bundesliga Best Newcomer of the Year award in 1992. Special guest analysts are expected to join the panel throughout the season. FOX Sports also offer features, interviews and reports provided by Sky Deutschland, its sister network in Germany and the Bundesliga's domestic rights holder.
FOX Deportes' broadcast team includes some of the most respected and experienced analysts in Hispanic media. Former Mexican soccer player, Mariano Trujillo joins play-by-play announcer John Laguna. Claudio "El Emperador" Suarez who represented Mexico in three World Cups joins Troy Santiago. Fernando Schwartz, one of Mexico's most recognizable names in sports joins long-time FOX Deportes announcer Ariel Torrone. Francisco X. Rivera, who recently served as a sideline reporter for FOX Sports at the Gold Cup takes on play-by-play duties with retired soccer player Alvaro Izquierdo.
The Bundesliga boasts the highest average stadium attendance in the world and features many of its top teams, including 2013 UEFA Champions League finalists Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Many of the most exciting and entertaining players ply their trade in the Bundesliga, including World Cup winner Thomas Mueller, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben.
The debut of the 2015-2016 Bundesliga season is part of FOX Sports' Summer of Soccer, which features more than 200 live matches between Memorial Day and Labor Day, including the FIFA Women's World Cup, the UEFA Champions League Final, the FA Cup, the UEFA Europa League Final, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Major League Soccer All-Star Game and league matches every Sunday, the International Champions Cup, the FA Community Shield, the Copa Libertadores Final and additional matches featuring both the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams.
