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Bundesliga second richest division in world football

German football will avoid the media rights ceiling hit by the Premier League, according to the Bundesliga's chief executive, who revealed record revenues. Of course, in a sense all that tells us is that the Bundesliga has more room for growth, having lagged behind in the past.

The collapse in 2002 of Kirsch Group, the German media empire, in part due to debts associated with sports rights contracts, made local broadcasters resistant to paying large sums for live sports, but as competition for pay TV subscribers hots up in Germany, that reluctance is fading. Pay TV penetration is a lot lower than in the UK.

Revenues from media rights deals jumped a third last year to €1.25bn, boosted by the start of a four year €4.6bn domestic television deal with Sky Deutschland and Eurosport.

Overall revenues at Germany's top 18 clubs were €3.81bn, an increase of 13 per cent over the previous season. The results make the Bundesliga the richest division in world football after the Premier League which made €5.3bn in the 2016/17 season and ahead of La Liga which made €2.85bn in 2016/17.

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