Bundesliga — Where to Watch

Germany has one of the strangest outcomes in European football rights: the league is split between two pay services inside its own country. Sky Deutschland, through its streaming arm WOW, carries the Friday and Saturday matches. DAZN carries a package of its own, and it holds that package through a sublicence rather than a direct deal with the league. If you want the full season in Germany, you buy both.

The Bundesliga is also one of the few big leagues with essentially no free-to-air route in its home market, which is worth understanding before you go looking for one.

Country	Who shows it	Free option
Germany	Sky Deutschland and WOW carry the Friday and Saturday matches; DAZN carries its own sublicensed package. Most fans need both	No free Bundesliga. German law protects only the DFB-Pokal semi-finals and final, and national team matches
Austria	DAZN, whose Austrian storefront lists the Bundesliga	None confirmed
Switzerland	DAZN, which lists the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal	None confirmed
Ireland	DAZN's Irish service lists the Bundesliga	None confirmed
UK	Not confirmed in our research — we could not verify the current UK rights holder	None confirmed
United States	Not confirmed. Fubo lists the Bundesliga among its football rights, but we could not verify the main US rights holder	None confirmed
Canada	DAZN Canada	None
France	beIN Sports France, which carries the Bundesliga among its football rights	None
Italy	Sky Italia and NOW, exclusively	None
Spain	DAZN España	None
Portugal	DAZN Portugal	None
Netherlands	Viaplay	None confirmed
Czechia	DAZN's Czech service lists the Bundesliga	None confirmed
India	Sony Sports Ten 2 is listed as carrying the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal. Our source is a channel listing, so verify before subscribing	None
South Africa	SuperSport on DStv, and DAZN's South African service	None
Brazil	We could not confirm the main paid rights holder	Jovem Pan's YouTube channel is reported to carry the Bundesliga. Our source is secondary
Japan	DAZN Japan	ABEMA's free tier shows two Bundesliga matches per matchday, plus free highlights on DAZN
South Korea	Coupang Play, with some Bundesliga on TVING as well	None confirmed

Can you watch it free?

In Germany, no — and the reason is legal rather than commercial. The German Medienstaatsvertrag lists the events that must be available free-to-air, and the Bundesliga is not on it. The list covers the Olympic Games, German national team matches, the DFB-Pokal semi-finals and final, and the finals of the European club competitions when a German club is involved. A league match is not a protected event, so there is no mechanism to force a free broadcast.

That is worth knowing because the Bundesliga is often assumed to be free somewhere in Germany. It is not. The free football in Germany is the cup and, if you want the second division and highlights, the public broadcasters' sports output.

Germany — no free league matches. The DFB-Pokal semi-finals and final are free-to-air under the Medienstaatsvertrag, and ARD carries Bundesliga highlights.
Japan — ABEMA's free tier shows two Bundesliga matches per matchday. This is the most generous free Bundesliga coverage we found anywhere.
Japan — DAZN Japan carries free highlights.
Brazil — a YouTube channel is reported to carry the Bundesliga free; treat it as unverified.

How we define "free". Every option on this site is either a public broadcaster, a free ad-supported tier, an official free trial, or a rights-holder's own channel. We do not list or link to unlicensed rebroadcasts. Note that a VPN does not make a stream legal: reaching a service licensed for another country normally breaches that service's terms, and the bigger platforms actively block it.

The cheapest legal route

Germany — WOW's Live-Sport plan is €44.99/month on a rolling basis, or €29.99/month for the first year on a 12-month term. If you only want the Saturday afternoon matches, start there rather than with a full Sky bundle.
Germany, second subscription — DAZN starts at €24.99/month and its German free tier carries selected live LaLiga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Saudi Pro League matches, so the two subscriptions together cover a lot of football.
Japan — check ABEMA's free tier first, then decide whether you need DAZN at all.
Netherlands — Viaplay is the only route we could confirm, and it also carries the Premier League and Formula 1.
Canada — DAZN Canada bundles the Bundesliga with the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, the EFL and all three UEFA competitions.

About "free trials" in Germany. Sky Deutschland advertises a cheap first month rather than a free one — and that price comes from a third-party source, so check it. WOW's seven-day free promotion is attached to a films and series plan, not to sport. DAZN's free tier is not a trial either: it is a permanent free account with limited content, and there is no classic free trial month.

Why do German viewers need two subscriptions for the Bundesliga?

Because the rights are split. Sky Deutschland and WOW have the Friday and Saturday matches, and DAZN holds a separate package obtained by sublicence rather than directly from the league. Wanting the whole season means buying both.

Is the Bundesliga free anywhere in Germany?

No. The Bundesliga is not on Germany’s list of protected events, so no free broadcast is required. The DFB-Pokal semi-finals and final are protected, and the Bundesliga highlights are on ARD.

What does "sublicence" mean for the Bundesliga?

It means DAZN did not buy its German package from the league itself but from the primary rights holder. That is why the German rights map looks more complicated than it needs to, and why the two services carry different sets of matches.

Where can I watch the Bundesliga in the United States?

We could not verify the current US rights holder. Fubo lists the Bundesliga among its football rights, so that is a safe starting point, but check the broadcaster before you subscribe to anything.

Does the Bundesliga have a free trial in Germany?

No. Neither Sky nor WOW offers a free trial on sport, and DAZN has not offered a classic free trial month for some time. DAZN’s free tier is a permanent free account with selected content, not a trial.

Is the Bundesliga available in the UK?

We could not confirm the current UK rights holder in this research, so we have not recommended a route. Treat any UK Bundesliga claim you read elsewhere as needing a check, because this market has changed hands more than once.

Where to go next

Serie A Ligue 1 Champions League DAZN country by country Free live streams