Bundesliga signs up YouTuber Mark Goldbridge

   The Bundesliga has confirmed a plethora of headline-grabbing UK broadcast deals heading into the new season, including an eye-catching partnership with YouTuber Mark Goldbridge. 

Sky Sports will remain the Bundesliga’s UK broadcast partner, continuing to show the Saturday evening “top match” and weekly highlights. 

In addition, Prime Video has secured exclusive rights to all Sunday fixtures on a pay-per-view basis, covering promotion/relegation play-offs and the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup ahead of the 2026-27 season. 

And under a new multi-year deal, the BBC will stream every Friday night game live on iPlayer and via its Sport website and app. 

The campaign begins on Friday with Bayern Munich v RB Leipzig broadcast free-to-air across multiple platforms in the UK and Ireland. 

But the headline announcement comes in the form of the Bundesliga’s big new YouTube strategy. 

It has placed its trust in Goldbridge – a figure widely adored by some and widely mocked by others – who has won the rights to stream 20 Bundesliga matches this season in a first-of-its-kind deal. 

Experts say the agreement presents a unique opportunity to access an audience otherwise unattainable for a mainstream channel such as the Bundesliga, in a way never taken seriously before. 

“This decision doesn’t take the traditional approach where an exclusive partner is sought to maximise revenue. Instead, non-exclusive live rights have been granted to multiple partners for the same games,” commented Richards Davies, Partner in the sports team at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys. 

“Whilst the content creators are very unlikely to be paying significant rights fees, they do represent an interesting part of the free-to-air mix. Goldbridge has a following that the Bundesliga official YouTube channel may not be able to access alone, so the deal recognises that some YouTubers may now have reached the status of mainstream channels that can move the needle on delivering eyeballs and engagement. 

“As the media market continues to fragment, we are likely to see more of these non-exclusive, multi-platform deals in the future.” 

Goldbridge’s stats are not to be scoffed at. His Manchester United-dedicated YouTube channel, The United Stand, has more than 2.1 million subscribers, and involves viewers watching his live reactions to United games. 

The idea behind giving the content creator broadcasting rights is to offer the same experience, but with the bonus of also being able to watch the match live. 

The 20 matches will be broadcast on That’s Football, a channel hosted by Goldbridge, whose real name is Brent Di Cesare, which has over 1.3 million subscribers. 

In the wake of the announcement, a clip of Goldbridge declaring the Bundesliga “sh*t” in a 2021 episode of his show went viral online. 

And ironically, the Bundesliga has also agreed a deal for The Overlap to show 20 matches this season, starting on Friday. A popular podcast with its own YouTube channel, The Overlap features some of English football’s biggest names including Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Gary Neville – who is not a fan of Goldbridge and once declared the content creator would never be invited on to his show. 

Peer Naubert, Chief Executive Officer of Bundesliga International, said: “We are delighted to announce our new-look line up of great media partners as part of our multi-platform strategy in the UK and Ireland. 

“Our approach is as diverse as our supporters: by combining established broadcasters with digital platforms and content creators, we are taking a progressive step in how top-level football can be experienced. 

“This multi-layered strategy allows us to connect with more audiences across the UK and Ireland, giving every supporter the chance to engage with Football As It’s Meant To Be in the way that suits them best.” 

The Bundesliga has also agreed a four-year deal with United Media for coverage in the Balkans and south-east Europe.  

In recent weeks, Bundesliga rights have also been snapped up by DAZN in Japan and state-owned media and telecoms heavyweight Viettel in Vietnam, while the league also agreed an extension in Italy with pay-TV Sky Italia.