Mustafi Takes Expert Role at Magenta for Euro Championships
Football legend Shkodran Mustafi steps into the pundit spotlight for MagentaTV during Germany's Euro Championships. The 31-year-old defender, now jobless since summer, previously played for UD Levante in Spain, is set to join Michael Ballack and Tabea Kemme in MagentaTV's commentary squad. Telekom announced the lineup at a Hamburg press conference.
Johannes B. Kerner and Wolff Fuss return as presenter and commentator, respectively, repeating their roles from the last Euro Championship and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Deutsche Telekom surprised everyone in 2019 by securing the media rights for the tournament from UEFA. "What a coup!" said Deutsche Telekom manager Michael Hagspihl. MagentaTV will air all 51 matches, including five exclusive ones. ARD and ZDF secured sub-licenses, enabling them to broadcast 34 matches, including live German team appearances, the opening game, semifinals, and finale.
Twelve more matches show up on free-to-air TV on RTL as a result of Telekom's extensive Euro Championship collaboration with RTL. Together, the two will share a TV studio and production infrastructure at RTL's Cologne site. RTL will air highlights from tourney matches instantly post-whistle on its platforms.
As a national sponsor and technology provider, Telekom handles network infrastructure installations in most Euro Championships' stadiums. They start testing next January.
Extra Insights:
- Instead of Mustafi, MagentaTV usually leverages other football experts such as former international players like Stefan Effenberg or Lothar Matthäus.
- Bundesliga teams have often licensed their media rights to Sky or DAZN, while UEFA holds the sole broadcasting rights for its tournaments.
- Telekom seeks to become a go-to source for sports content in Germany, originally aiming to secure the 2022 World Cup rights but eventually losing to public broadcaster ZDF.
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