Optus Sport continues to expand its football offering after securing the exclusive Australian rights to the DFB-Pokal and DFB-Pokal Frauen for the next three seasons.
The DFB-Pokal is Germanys biggest and most prestigious cup competition, held annually by the German Football Association (DFB) and running from August through to June. 64 teams participate in the German Cup, including all clubs from the Bundesliga.
It means the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig join a growing stable of footballs biggest clubs on Optus Sport, bringing with them superstars like Sadio Mane, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Kimmich, Marco Reus, Jude Bellingham, Christopher Nkunku and Dani Olmo.
Optus Sport has also secured the rights for Womens German Cup, the DFB-Pokal Frauen, which is the main national womens football cup competition and includes some of the womens games top sides, led by eight-time defending champs VfL Wolfsburg and nine-time winners Eintracht Frankfurt. The competition was established in its current format in 1991, has 49 teams and runs alongside the mens competition through to May.
We know our football fans will be happy with the addition of the DFB-Pokal and DFB-Pokal Frauen, as Optus Sport continues to deliver the worlds best football to our customers, Optus VP TV, Content and Product Development, Clive Dickens, said this week.
Dr. Holger Blask, Managing Director of the DFB GmbH & Co. KG, said, We have seen the continued growth of Optus Sport and its world-class approach to streaming top-class football. Germany's premium Club Cup competitions will definitely be in good hands and Optus Sport will reliably provide Australia's fans of German football with the best live matches, in-depth analysis and insightful support programs around the DFB Cup.
We are very excited about this multi-year agreement covering both the men's and women's competitions, a fact we are particularly proud of and one that will take the DFB Cup to a new level in Australia."
Since 2016, Optus Sport has brought the worlds best players and fixtures to Australian football fans through its live and exclusive broadcasting of the Premier League and later, the Barclays FA Womens Super League, with Optus Sport recently renewing and extending its arrangements with both competitions.
Optus Sport has also recently added LaLiga and holds the Australian rights to the FIFA Womens World Cup 2023, the J.League and UEFA National Team Football including the UEFA Nations League, all UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers, all UEFA European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, plus a range of international friendlies, all available to Optus Sport subscribers.
The DFB-Pokal Frauen gets underway first on Optus Sport, with Ingolstadt taking on Bayern Munich on Wednesday (13 September AEST) morning. This will come off the back of a big weekend of womens football as the FA Womens Super League 2022/23 season commences on Saturday 10 September.
DFB-POKAL SCHEDULE
The 1st round of DFB-Pokal matches have already been played, running through July and August, with Hertha Berlin stunned by second tier Eintracht Braunschweig despite taking a 2-0 lead and third tier SV Elversberg knocking out Bayer Leverkusen in an epic that ended 4-3.
VfB Lubeck (foutth tier) and Stuttgarter Kickers (fifth tier) are carrying the flag for Germanys minnows as we head into the 2nd round, which is where Optus Sport picks up coverage.
Optus Sport will transmit select games from the early rounds and will transmit all games from the 3rd round.
2nd Round: October 2022
3rd Round: January/February 2023 (moved due to the FIFA World Cup)
Quarterfinals: April 2023
Semi-finals: May 2023
Final: June 2023
DFB-POKAL FRAUEN SCHEDULE
The 1st round of Womens DFB-Pokal are also in the books. Optus Sport will broadcast selected games from the 2nd round onwards as Eintracht Frankfurt kick off their campaign against Weinberg, Ingolstadt host Bayern Munich and FSV Gutersloh takes on the might of defending camps Wolfsburg.
2nd Round: 11-13 September 2022
Round of 16: 19/20/21 November 2022
Quarterfinals: 28 February / 1 March 2023
Semi-finals: 15/16 April 2023
Final: 18 May 2023
HOW TO GET OPTUS SPORT IN AUSTRALIA
Customers can watchOptus Sporton their favourite screens and devices via Fetch, Apple TV, Android TV compatible Smart TVs, LG Smart TVs, Apple Airplay, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox, compatible Samsung Smart TVs or desktop, or on-the-go via tablet, mobile, or laptop.
Optus customers now manage their Optus Sport subscription via Optus innovative subscription management platform,Optus SubHub, accessed via subhub.optus.com.au or through the SubHub link on their My Optus app.
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