2. Bundesliga: Where have all the highlights gone? ZDF doesn't show everything

The 2. Bundesliga has barely begun and it's already paused again. After the first and second matchdays of the German lower leagues have been completed, league play will be suspended next weekend in favor of the first round of the DFB-Pokal, before regular play resumes on August 22nd, along with the Bundesliga.

In addition to four new teams and several new coaches on the sidelines, there have also been some changes in the TV rights situation. Starting this season, RTL will be broadcasting the top match of the 2. Bundesliga on Saturday evenings instead of Sport1. As in previous years, all games will continue to be broadcast on the pay-TV channel Sky.

The highlight rights situation is similar. On pay TV, both RTL and Sky are allowed to show summaries of the matches; on free TV, the highlights at the start of the season are and were reserved for the well-known formats of ARD (Sportschau) and ZDF (Sportstudio).

Things get a little curious, however, when you look at the exploitation of the online rights starting Monday at midnight. ZDF secured the highlight clip package "N" (free highlight clips starting Monday at midnight) for the Bundesliga, which the broadcaster had to share with ARD and Sport1 during the previous rights period.

Looking at the on-demand highlights of the 2. Bundesliga on the first two matchdays, ZDF only offers summaries of three matches per matchday online, both on its website and on its YouTube channel. On the first matchday, the broadcaster uploaded excerpts from the matches Schalke vs. Hertha, Bielefeld vs. Düsseldorf, and Darmstadt vs. Bochum; on the second matchday, it uploaded excerpts from the matches Dresden vs. Magdeburg, Kaiserslautern vs. Schalke, and Hertha vs. Karlsruhe.

ARD, on the other hand, offered summaries of all 18 matches from both matchdays on sportschau.de. As ZDF confirmed to RND (RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland) upon request, the acquired "N" package can be used jointly by ARD and ZDF to the same extent.

ZDF further informed RND: "ZDF is permitted to use all matches from a second division matchday, with clips up to 15 minutes long. The broadcaster will use selected second division matches as classic match reports on its YouTube channel. Additional scenes from a second division matchday will be used in further, topic-oriented reporting on all platforms (including TV)."

But why is this limitation to just three games, the so-called "selected games"? In response to a corresponding inquiry from RND, ZDF cryptically justified this selection with an "editorial decision" without further elaboration.

The end consumer can and may therefore assume that the highlights of the 2nd Bundesliga in the free TV area will continue to be available only in a slimmed-down version on ZDF for online distribution starting Monday at midnight – and that they will have to rely on the Sportschau offering.