How to watch German Bundesliga football live
Catch the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Union Berlin in action
The English Premier League, Spanish LaLiga and Italian Serie A may be considered the Holy Trinity of European domestic football competitions. Millions tune in to it every weekend, after all. But Germany’s Bundesliga is right up there, filled with fierce rivalries, derbies and a certain English footballer called Harry Kane.
Teams like the mighty Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Union Berlin and VfB Stuttgart enjoy some of the most dedicated fanbases in global football. Sure, it’s considered a little less competitive than it was a few years ago. This is a pretty natural consequence of Bayern Munich finishing league champions for the past eleven seasons in a row. Borussia Dortmund also spoiled it for Bayern in the 22/23 season, but quite literally fluffed it on the final day of the season.
Anyway, it’s a new season with it all to play for.
Key dates in the German Bundesliga 2023/24 season
The Bundesliga season began on 18 August 2023 and will conclude on 18 May 2024. The final of the German domestic cup, the DFB-Pokal, will take place on 25 May 2024 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
How to watch the German Bundesliga on TV and streaming services
USA
In the USA, ESPN+ is the sole official way to watch the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. It shows all league games live and on-demand.
A handful of games each season (at least four) will also be broadcast on the ‘main’ ESPN or ESPN2 linear channels. ESPN+ is a paid-for add-on subscription service to ESPN’s broadcast TV channels. It feels like pretty much a must for any US-based football fan, as it also includes full coverage of the English Premier League, Spain’s LaLiga, the Dutch Eredivisie and Mexico’s Liga MX.
An ESPN+ subscription is $9.99 per month, or $99.99 with an ESPN+ Annual Plan. You can also bundle ESPN+ (with ads) with Disney+ (with ads) and Hulu (with ads) for $12.99 per month.
UK and Europe
In the UK and Ireland, Sky Sports has the exclusive rights to broadcast and stream the Bundesliga and DFB cup matches. Fans can watch via live channels like Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Mix, and/or via the Sky Sports App. Not every match is covered, however. There are usually two or three games per week, shown on Fridays, Saturdays and/or Sundays. You can get Sky Sports via Sky’s satellite service, Sky Stream or a Now Sports Membership.
If you want access to every Bundesliga match live, you’ll have to use a VPN and sign up to a foreign streaming service. The likes of ExpressVPN (3000+ servers in 3,000 servers in 94 nations) and NordVPN (5400 servers across 60+ countries) offer deals perfectly tailored for Bundesliga viewing. Many even come with a few months free.
Elsewhere in Europe, the broadcaster(s) differ depending on your location. You can view a full list of the official Bundesliga broadcast partners here. (Note: this list covers the whole world, not just Europe.)
Tune in with a VPN
Want to watch the Bundesliga in German, wherever you are? Or tune into Japanese baseball, English football or even Aussie rules? With a VPN, you can watch sports coverage from outside your own country. We’ve already compiled the best paid for VPN services of 2023, as well as which free VPN services can help you surf the internet in privacy. But all the major services have deals pretty much tailor-made for whatever protection and features you need from a VPN service. A few of our personal recommendations are:
Sam Kieldsen
Contributor 
