German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine is reporting that Sky Deutschland has filed a formal complaint in the Dusseldorf regional court about how the nation’s “football live broadcasting rights in TV and the Internet” have been apportioned.  The newspaper says that Sky is unhappy with the design of the Bundesliga auction.

However, few doubt that the complaint will in any way affect the current auction.

Equity analysts at investment bank Exane/BNP-Paribas, in a note early on June 8, say that Sky “have a history of using legal recourse to aggressively defend their business model”.

The bank adds: “While we are cautious on the prospects for the Bundesliga auction (55% inflation vs €486 million spend per year at previous renewal while retaining most rights) but note that sell-side inflation expectations have been drifting upwards (while no formal consensus is gathered, we estimate consensus expected c40% inflation expected in March; now 50-70%).”

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