Bundesliga Adds Jamie Vardy-Led YouTube Channel to the UK and Ireland Broadcast Strategy.

Roger Hampel

Image: Dominik Hofbauer

Bundesliga Media is expanding its creator-led live match distribution in the UK and Ireland for the 2026/27 season, adding a YouTube channel led by Jamie Vardy and renewing its agreement with Mark Goldbridge's That's Football.

Vardy's Jamie Vardy's Having a Party channel will broadcast seven Friday night Bundesliga matches live during the season, beginning with the opening fixture between Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart on August 28.

Goldbridge, meanwhile, will return for a second season with 15 Friday night matches streamed through That's Football, extending an experiment that Bundesliga Media says has been particularly effective in reaching younger viewers.

The agreements form part of a broader distribution model in which the German league is placing live rights across traditional television, streaming, FAST channels and creator-led YouTube broadcasts in the same market.

Jamie Vardy Adds Player-Led Format to Bundesliga Distribution Bundesliga

Vardy's involvement introduces a different type of creator to the Bundesliga's UK distribution strategy.

The former Premier League winner will lead seven live broadcasts throughout the season, combining the matches with reaction, discussion and analysis alongside additional guests.

The agreement forms part of a broader partnership with Banijay Entertainment. Banijay UK and production label Workerbee will produce the live Bundesliga shows featuring Vardy.

For Bundesliga Media, the format provides access to an audience built around the personality of a recognisable English footballer while retaining the match itself as the central piece of content.

The first broadcast is scheduled for Bayern Munich against Stuttgart on August 28, with the remaining fixtures to be announced during the season.

Mark Goldbridge Partnership Extended After First Season

Bundesliga Media has also renewed its agreement with That's Football following the channel's first season of live Bundesliga coverage.

Goldbridge will stream 15 Friday night matches during 2026/27, starting with Union Berlin against Schalke on September 11.

That's Football has a community of more than 1.5 million subscribers. More significantly for the Bundesliga's distribution strategy, the league says 54% of live viewers for its matches on the channel during 2025/26 were aged between 13 and 34.

That demographic provides some evidence for the rationale behind placing live football inside creator-led environments. Instead of requiring younger audiences to move entirely towards a conventional broadcaster, the Bundesliga can distribute selected matches through a personality and platform they already consume.

Bundesliga Builds Multi-Platform UK Distribution Model

Creator coverage sits alongside a much broader media strategy in the UK and Ireland.

For 2026/27, Sky Sports will carry the Saturday top matches, while Amazon Prime Video will make Sunday fixtures available through a pay-per-view TVOD offering.

Friday night matches will also be available through BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport's digital platforms, while Samsung TV Plus will distribute them through the 24/7 Bundesliga FAST Channel.

That's Football and Vardy's channel therefore operate as additional routes to the competition, not replacements for established broadcasters.

That distinction makes the strategy particularly interesting from a media-rights perspective.

Bundesliga Media is effectively experimenting with different forms of distribution around the same competition: subscription television, transactional streaming, public-service digital distribution, FAST television and creator-led YouTube coverage.

Executive Comments

Peer Naubert, Chief Commercial Officer of Bundesliga Media, said:

“Football audiences are changing, and there is no single way in which people want to experience the Bundesliga.”

He added that the first season of YouTube collaboration demonstrated particular potential among younger audiences, with the Vardy agreement now introducing another format alongside the renewed Goldbridge partnership.

Mark Goldbridge said:

“The reaction from our community last year was incredible.”

He added that the combination of Bundesliga football and live watch-alongs had established a Friday night audience that the channel now intends to develop further during the new season.