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 business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

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

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

. 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 and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

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

Premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It also broadcast HBO US Boxing Nights,

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

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, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

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 Summ ...

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, and the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

References

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