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The return of 81-year old Leo Kirch to the German football rights market after a spectacular business failure has not been greeted with universal enthusiasm. His media group collapsed in 2002 in what was then Germany's largest bankruptcy with the collapse of his empire leading to significant financial problems for some clubs. With the news that he had won the rights to market (but not transmit) top flight Bundesliga football, shares slumped in Germany pay-tv company Premiere. Ironically, Premier was once part of the business empire of the colourful but secretive Munich-based entrepreneur. The DFL, the German football association, is expecting to earn €3.45bn from the next six seasons of Bundesliga action, an increase of about a third from what it earns at the moment. Mr Kirsch has promised a minimum revenue of €3bn over the timeframe from selling the rights in Germany. Premiere shares are worth about half their value since the company first lost the Bundesliga rights at the end of 2005. The company subsequently clawed back the rights through a series of complicated deals that underlined its desperation to keep showing Bundesliga football. Analysts at Deutsche Bank said the appointment of Mr Kirch was likely to lead to inflation in the cost of the rights.
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