Watching sports

2024 Rugby Fixtures

The 2024 Springboks rugby fixtures courtesy of Rugby365.com

Cricket T20 World cup

The T20 Cricket World Cup can be streamed via the Cricket.de Website

Watching your favourite sports on Television can be a challenge in Germany. Using a VPN to watch the games on DSTV is very tempting, but we strongly advise against it.
Germany has stringent copyright laws.
Do not violate copyright laws by illegally downloading a film, music, or other web content. You can get heavy fines for doing so.
You can read more about streaming on the European Consumer Centre Germany – and download their English Safer-Streaming-EN.pdf file

Downloading Music, Movies etc

Copyrights in Germany are governed by GEMA, a government-mandated collecting society and performance rights organization. GEMA: The Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte, or in English, the society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights. Germany has stringent copyright laws.Do not violate copyright laws by illegally downloading a film,

Television Licenses

Television Licence (der Rundfunkbeitrag/GEZ-Gebühr) The first thing you are likely to get in your new mailbox after registering at the Bürgeramt is a reminder to pay your TV & radio broadcasting fees. The 2024 fees are €18.36 per month and can be paid quarterly (€55.08) or €220.32 per yearThe fee

Pubs and restaurants

If you would like to watch it with others, consider visiting an Irish pub in your town, they usually have a television with a subscription to sports channels. It is a good idea to confirm with them what games they will be showing on that day.
If you are close to Bielefeld, there is a South African Restaurant called Howzit, they show most of the major games. In Berlin, visit Outer Africa

Pay channels

WOW TV (old Sky Ticket)
Dazn
Willow TV for Cricket
Amazon Prime
Rugbypass.tv – we mention them here for reference only. According to their website “You can enjoy live and free access to all Rugby World Cup games on RugbyPass TV if you’re located in the following countries: Albania, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, Slovakia, South Korea, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Vietnam.”
More than sports – this article in in German but shows how to legally watch the More than sports channel

If you are lucky ZDF will show some major international games but it is in German.

Apps

RugbyPass for Android was discontinued but is available again. It was shortly renamed to Premier Sports Asia, it is not clear whether the service is legal in Germany.
The Ultimate Rugby App gives live scores but no streaming

Websites/Streaming

The following sites seem to offer legal streaming, please refer to their disclaimers. You are responsible for your own legal clarifications. No liability accepted.

Ran.de has some live streams but mostly 7’S
sanzaarrugby.tv– they show mostly Southern Hemisphere games. According to their website “Sanzaar rugby matches are only available in countries where rights to watch your content is available” According to Inverleigh Media, Germany is on their list of countries.
URC TV – United Rugby Championships. According to their website, there are no limitations for Germany
Youtube channels
Rugby Deutschland
Sport.de
A great website with fixtures and results is Rugby365.com

Radio Stations

You can listen to most games on radio stations.

Radio Stations and Playlists

Most South African radio stations have a streaming option, another option is to download apps with a selection of radio stations. Here are some suggestions

Resources on the web

Streamen – Article in German
Streaming was ist illegal. Information about geoblocking
You can read more about streaming, and how to identify illegal sites, on the European Consumer Centre Germany – you can download their English PDF here Safer-Streaming-EN
IPTV what is legal and what not – article in German but can be easily translated