Arena, legally ''Arena Sport Rechte und Marketing GmbH'' was a German media company. Its main operation was a

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

channel called ''Arena''. It was a subsidiary of the cable operator

Unitymedia Vodafone GmbH is a mobile telecommunications operator in Germany headquartered in Düsseldorf. It provides mobile phone, LTE, 5G, cable internet, landlines, cable TV, and IPTV services. As of the third quarter of 2021, Vodafone GmbH has more ...

. It ceased operations on 30 September 2010. Arena was introduced in late 2005, when it was led by Parm Sadhu, and won the broadcasting rights to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

for the years 2006 to 2009 in a DFL auction. In 2010 Unitymedia sublicensed the rights to Premiere.

Economic development

To pay the €220 million cost of the broadcast rights for the first and second Bundesliga and other associated costs (more sports rights, technology, personnel, advertising), Arena needed 2.5 million subscribers. By mid 2007 they only had 1.1 million customers, which led to huge losses. In the nine months from July 2006 to March 2007 the station lost €189 million. Expenditures totaled €316 million, revenues totaled only €127 million. Losses from the first year of Bundesliga coverage came to around €250 million. As a result, the Bundesliga rights were sublicensed to Premiere in mid 2007. Arena received a total of €200 million (€100 million per season) and an equity stake of 17% in Premiere AG valued at €300 million. Arena gave the rights to Premiere as a sub-license, and remained contractor of Bundesliga until 2009.

Bundesliga

The pay TV channel ''Arena Bundesliga'' broadcast all 612 games of the first and second Bundesliga in the 2006/2007 season live. The contract with DFL ran for the three years to July 2009. The rights were sublicensed at the beginning of the 2007/2008 season to Premiere, a competitor. Arena broadcast via satellite and cable. Cable customers were changed €15 a month and satellite customers were changed €20 a month. Minimum terms were between 12 and 24 months, which meant that payments had to be made even when no Bundesliga games were broadcast. The channel broadcast ads before and after matches, and at half time. Despite relatively cheap subscriptions, Arena wasn't able to attract sufficient subscribers. At the time of purchasing the Bundesliga rights in December 2005, Arena aimed to have six million subscribers ;but by mid 2007 had only 1.1 million. Besides sublicensing Bundesliga rights to Premiere, Arena also sublicensed all other rights (for example to the Spanish Primera Division). The station was reduced in scope and existed from 2007 as a satellite platform called "arenaSAT" until 30 September 2010. Arena also broadcast live matches of the Primera División in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It also broadcast HBO US Boxing Nights, skeleton,

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

, and the Football League Cup.

References

{{reflist Television networks in Germany Defunct German television channels Football in Germany Sports television networks 2005 establishments in Germany 2010 disestablishments in Germany