ESPN Renews DFB-Pokal Rights Through 2026

ESPN has reached a multi-year extension with the German Football Association for exclusive U.S. media rights to DFB-Pokal, Germany’s top domestic soccer cup competition.

The agreement brings a minimum of 40 DFB-Pokal (German Cup) matches each season exclusively to ESPN+ in English. All matches will stream on ESPN+, with select games each season made available on ESPN networks and ESPN+ in English and Spanish. German Cup rights include the Semifinals and the Final.

ESPN+ holds the exclusive U.S. rights to three of the top-four domestic cup competitions in global soccer, including the Emirates FA Cup in England and Spain’s Copa del Rey.

“The multi-year agreement for the German Cup further cements ESPNPlus’s position as the country’s leading soccer platform, and having the top-three domestic soccer cup competitions in one place demonstrates our commitment to serve soccer fans in the U.S,” said Sonia Gomez, ESPN Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions.

DFB-Pokal continues an unmatched lineup of approximately 2,000 annual soccer matches on ESPN+, led by LaLiga Santander and Smartbank, Germany’s Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, the Emirates FA Cup, Carabao Cup, EFL, Liga MX, USL, U.S. Open Cup and more.

Organized by the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball-Bund, DFB), DFB-Pokal is Germany’s top soccer knockout cup competition with 64 teams participating annually. Much like its counterparts in England (Emirates FA Cup) and Spain (Copa del Rey), DFB-Pokal is considered the second-most important club title in German soccer after Bundesliga championship. FC Bayern München is the most successful club in the competition with 20 titles. RB Leipzig are DFB-Pokal reigning champions, and it is the club’s first DFB-Pokal title.