SPORT1 acquires XFL International Rights for Germany, Austria and Switzerland

| American Football | 01/21/2023

The European television channel SPORT1 has acquired exclusive rights package for the next two seasons of the new XFL set to kick off in February

The 2023 XFL season starts after the NFL Super Bowl. SPORT1 will be presenting the XFL live and with highlights on free TV from February 18, as well as extensively on pay TV on SPORT1+ and its digital and social media channels.

This season, eight teams will compete in the XFL, divided into two divisions: XFL North (D.C. Defenders, Seattle Sea Dragons, St. Louis Battlehawks, Vegas Vipers) and XFL South (Arlington Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, Orlando Guardians, San Antonio Brahmas).

Olaf Schröder, CEO of Sport1 Medien AG and CEO of Sport1 GmbH:

“The enthusiasm for American football has grown enormously in German-speaking countries in recent years – with the first NFL game in Munich as the preliminary climax of the euphoria about one of the now also in this country leading TV sports. With the XFL, we offer an even greater variety of sports on our platform, strengthen the program color US sports and underpin our claim to go on the offensive as a first mover, especially with such new and innovative topics.”

Annika Rody, Director Media Rights at Sport1 GmbH:

“We want to provide the audience interested in football with exclusive football content on our sports platform after the end of the NFL season. We’ll be spotlighting the XFL with live games, highlights and stories from around the league, specifically targeting younger fans who are interested in this content. We would like to thank the XFL for trusting us as the exclusive media partner for the German-speaking region!”

Jay Rothman, XFL SVP Broadcast Operations:

“We’ve been working for months to develop a live broadcast that allows our fans to be immersed in the action and the on-screen talent is absolutely critical to driving the energy and excitement on the field to broadcast the screens of our fans. We are thrilled with the assembled team and crew behind the scenes – we look forward to kickoff in less than a month.”

The XFL will start its season one week after the Super Bowl. The Sport1 rights package includes a total of 43 games – on each of the ten weeks, two games each are scheduled on Saturdays and Sundays, after the regular season followed by the XFL Playoffs on April 29 and 30 and the XFL Championship on May 13.

SPORT1 will show the opening season live and in highlights on every gameday on free-TV and on SPORT1+ as well as on SPORT1.de, the SPORT1 apps and its social media channels.

A minimum of up to 10 games per season are scheduled to air on free-TV channel SPORT1. The XFL –will be broadcast in the US on ABC, ESPN and FX as part of a partnership with The Walt Disney Company and ESPN.

American Football International is your source for news and updates about American Football outside the United States!