Bundesliga 2024-25 – how to watch and stream fixtures in the UK
The new Bundesliga season is just a couple of weeks away – and Premier League viewers will see more than a few familiar faces if they tune in to the top flight of men's football in Germany.
Following Harry Kane's high-profile move to Bayern Munich last season (where he scored an impressive 36 goals), his former Spurs teammate Eric Dier has joined the club permanently following a loan spell earlier this year.
After Thomas Tuchel's exit as manager, it's former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany who will lead Bayern into the new season with hopes of reclaiming the Bundesliga title – they finished third last time out.
Reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen are also managed by Xabi Alonso, who spent several years playing for Liverpool in the mid-2000s. Xabi and his players secured Bayer Leverkusen's first Bundesliga title in style last season, finishing 17 points ahead of their closest rivals VfB Stuttgart.
Meanwhile, the league welcomes promoted sides FC St Pauli and Holstein Kiel, who'll be hoping to secure a solid finish in this season's standings.
Here's how you can watch and stream the Bundesliga live this season.
How to watch and stream Bundesliga football in the UK
In the UK and Ireland, Sky is the exclusive rights holder for the Bundesliga. Its multi-year agreement with the league concludes at the end of this 2024/25 season.
There are three ways to access Sky's services – the simplest of these is Sky Stream, which we've recently reviewed. It's effectively a streaming service as it uses broadband, not satellite, to bring programming to your screen.
Related: Best movies on Sky Cinema
Currently, new Sky Stream customers can bundle the streaming device with Sky Entertainment + Netflix Standard with Ads (the basic package), Sky Sports, plus the UHD & Dolby Atmos add-on, for £43/month (usually £52/month) over a 24-month contract term.
The usual £39.95 setup fee is also waived. However, this offer ends in just over a week's time on Wednesday, August 21.
For those of you looking for a new TV set as well, you may prefer to consider Sky Glass. There are also still Sky Q packages available.
Customers who prefer greater flexibility may want to consider NOW, where Sky Sports membership is priced at £14.99/day. Alternatively, those looking to make a longer-term commitment can buy 12 months' access for £26/month (usually £34.99/month).
Sky's extensive range of football programming also includes live men's Premier League and Women's Super League football, matches from the EFL Championship, League One and League Two, plus coverage of the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Women's Premier League, among other tournaments.
It also airs top-flight tennis including the upcoming US Open grand slam, with motorsport including live Formula 1 coverage and the IndyCar Series (including its showpiece Indianapolis 500 oval race on the late May bank holiday weekend).
Sky broadcasts all the men's and women's golfing majors, plus action from the major tours and the Ryder Cup. Its cricket rights include England men's and women's international home tests, one-day internationals and T20 fixtures, The Hundred tournament, plus and men's and women's World Cups at ODI and T20 level.
You'll also find rugby (union and league), boxing, darts, and the NFL among Sky's sports programming. It recently expanded its offering further with the launch of its new Sky Sports+ channel and accompanying pop-up live streams.
Bundesliga – watch live in the US
Watch the Bundesliga with ESPN+ in the US
The Bundesliga website's got a page that can help you with that.
Note that some countries share rights, as is the case with the Premier League in the UK. For example, in Germany, the broadcast rights are split between Sky Deutschland, DAZN, Sat.1, Sport.1 and WOW. However, in Italy, for example, Sky is the sole rights holder.
In the US, ESPN+ ($10.99/month or $109.99/year, excluding pay-per-view events) continues to hold the exclusive rights for the Bundesliga, also broadcasting the DFL Supercup game (the German counterpart to the Community Shield) and some 2. Bundesliga fixtures.
It airs live and on-demand replay coverage of over 300 matches per season, with coverage in both English and Spanish.
Bundesliga fixture schedule and games
The Bundesliga's matchday hub is the best place to get the most up-to-date information on fixtures and results.
The league gets going on Friday, August 23 with Borussia Mönchengladbach hosting reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen – Sky viewers will be able to tune into this game on Sky Sports Mix at 7.30pm.
And this Saturday (August 17), you'll also be able to watch the Bundesliga Supercup game between Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart – this also kicks off at 7.30pm, but airs on Sky Sports Football.
Further Bundesliga matches scheduled to air on Sky over the opening two weekends include:
• Saturday, August 24, 5.30pm (Sky Sports Football): Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt
• Sunday, August 25, 2.30pm (Sky Sports Mix): VfL Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich
• Sunday, August 25, 4.30pm (Sky Sports Mix): FC St Pauli v 1. FC Heidenheim
• Friday, August 30, 7.30pm (Sky Sports Mix): Union Berlin v FC St Pauli
• Saturday, August 31, 5.30pm (Sky Sports Football): Bayer Leverkusen v RB Leipzig
• Sunday, September 1, 2.30pm (Sky Sports+): 1. FC Heidenheim v FC Augsburg
• Sunday, September 1, 4.30pm (Sky Sports+): Bayern Munich v SC Freiburg
The league is scheduled to end on Saturday, May 17, 2025 after 34 rounds of fixtures.
Then on May 22 and 26, there will be a two-leg relegation play-off between the third-placed side in 2.Bundesliga and the 16th-placed side in the top flight, with the winner securing a spot in the Bundesliga for the following season.
Additionally, two teams are promoted and two are relegated between the two leagues automatically each season.
Bundesliga top scorers
You'll find the Bundesliga top scorer stats here once the season gets going, but for now, you can enjoy archive stats going back to 2019.
Harry Kane secured the top spot last season in his first year with Bayern Munich, scoring 36 goals – which meant he also won the European Golden Shoe award, which is given to the season's top goalscorer across all men's European domestic top-light football leagues.
Serhou Guirassy placed second for his previous club VfB Stuttgart with 28 goals, followed by Loïs Openda of RB Leipzig in third with 26 goals.
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