The growing popularity and reach of the Premier League globally is leaving rival European football competitions struggling to compete.

Not only to find an audience, but to find outlets to even show the matches.

So German football had to think differently – going to where Gen Z is engaging with football through content creators.

And that’s why tonight, Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich will begin their defence of the Bundesliga title live to 1.4 million subscribers on the That’s Football channel on YouTube.

It’s run by Mark Goldbridge, known for passionate but often provocative, punchy commentary about players on streams going viral.

His brand was built by being filmed reacting to watching Manchester United matches.

“People need to appreciate that we have a certain content style, and that’s very, very popular,” Goldbridge told Sky News.

“That is an area that needs to be catered [to] and that’s why, without the rights, we’ve had such big, big audiences.”

Goldbridge revealed he isn’t paying to show his 20 Friday night matches this season – reinforcing how the Bundesliga struggled to find a buyer in Britain.

Sky Sports previously had a four-year rights deal to exclusively show those German matches here, but will now only show the prestige Saturday evening slot live.

European leagues are finding it increasingly difficult in this market to sell their rights because domestic football is so dominant and appealing.

The focus of football budgets is on domestic games for Sky as well as Discovery-owned TNT Sports, which also focuses its European football coverage on men’s continental competitions, including the Champions League.

More Premier League matches will be shown live than ever before – with at least 215 on Sky, the parent company of Sky News, and others on TNT.

Sky Sports also has live men’s rights to the English Football League and Scottish matches, as well as sharing the Women’s Super League with the BBC.

The Bundesliga is also making the games broadcast by Goldbridge’s channel available to the BBC to stream online. They will further be on The Overlap, a YouTube channel part-owned by Gary Neville.

‘A progressive step’

Bundesliga International CEO Peer Naubert said: “Our approach is as diverse as our supporters: by combining established broadcasters with digital platforms and content creators, we are taking a progressive step in how top-level football can be experienced.

“This multi-layered strategy allows us to connect with more audiences across the UK and Ireland, giving every supporter the chance to engage … in the way that suits them best.”

While the former England and Manchester United player is a star pundit on Sky, he could also be seen as a rival to the Comcast-owned broadcaster by attracting fans to newer outlets of his channel.

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Goldbridge doesn’t see himself as a rival yet to long-established broadcasters.

“We’re not looking to replace what you can find on Sky or the BBC or anything like that,” he said. “This is a community that will be live with us, watching the Bundesliga, learning about it.

“And if I get a pronunciation wrong, or I don’t know about a player, then I’ve got my community there to back me up. I don’t profess to know everything.”

‘This is the future’

But he can be relatable to audiences, with more than two million subscribing to his The United Stand channel, earning him millions of pounds over the last decade.

“We’ve been there growing in the background and I think certain media outlets have ignored that, maybe hoping it would go away,” he said.

“I certainly think synergy and collaboration need to happen more because there are things in the mainstream that I don’t like and there will be people out there that really don’t like the way we watch football, but a lot of people do.

“And it’s about offering that choice to people and there are different ways people listen to football on the radio, people watch it with a commentator, some people turn the audio off completely, some people watch things like this (watch-a-long).

“And I think that is the future, to offer more choice.”

Thirteen unreleased Beatles tracks are set to feature on a new Anthology compilation – almost 30 years since the last.

The announcement comes following a big hint from Sir Paul McCartney and the other official Beatles social media channels, which all shared a carousel of images containing the numbers one to four on Instagram the day before the announcement.

Anthology 4 will feature 13 demos, session recordings and other rare tracks that have never been released before, similar to the first three Anthology compilations, which were released between 1995 and 1996.

Details of a full track listing are yet to be revealed. There is no indication the release will feature any completely previously unheard songs.

A book and documentary series, The Beatles Anthology, is also being remastered and streamed on Disney+, billed as “The Beatles’ story, in their own words”.

The series will include a new ninth episode featuring previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage of Sir Paul, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, filmed as they made the collections.

Beatles producer George Martin’s son Giles has remastered versions of Anthology 1, 2 and 3, and all four will be released in a new box set in November.

The 191-track set will also feature new mixes of Free As A Bird and Real Love – the singles from Anthology 1 and 2 – using the late John Lennon‘s vocals. These have been mixed by the songs’ original producer, Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne.

It comes after The Beatles topped the charts with their “last song” Now And Then, on which AI was used to extract Lennon’s vocals from an old demo, in 2023.

The box set will also include the original liner notes for the first three anthologies as well as a new set of notes on Anthology 4 by Beatles author Kevin Howlett, and an introduction compiled from 1996 interviews recorded with The Beatles’ close friend and adviser Derek Taylor.

The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time, having achieved 18 number one singles and 15 number one albums in the UK alone since they formed in 1960.

Four biopics are currently in the works – with each star getting his own film to share their side of the story of the band that changed the world.

The police watchdog has closed its investigations into the circumstances leading up to the decision to charge TV presenter Caroline Flack with assaulting her boyfriend.

Flack died in February 2020, with a coroner ruling that she took her own life after discovering she was definitely going to face a trial.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) initially recommended a caution after the alleged assault in December 2019 – but London’s Metropolitan Police appealed and the Love Island host was charged with assault by beating.

Various reviews into the way the case was handled have been carried out by the CPS, the Met, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) since Flack’s death. In April 2024, the star’s mother told Sky News she believes her daughter’s celebrity status likely contributed towards the decision to charge her.

It has now emerged that the IOPC closed its latest investigation, relating to the actions of officers in appealing to the CPS, in January 2025 – finding the outcome was “reasonable and proportionate”.

An IOPC spokesperson said it received a complaint referral from the Met, which contained “a number of allegations about the force’s investigation” into the alleged assault, in March 2024.

The majority of the allegations had already been investigated by the force and reviewed by the IOPC, the watchdog said, so it found no further action was required. However, the Met was directed to investigate one aspect of the complaint “on the basis there may be new witness evidence available”.

This related to the actions of officers in appealing the initial CPS decision, and five allegations were returned to the force’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) to “resolve in a proportionate manner”, the IOPC spokesperson told Sky News.

In June 2024, the Met found there was “no new evidence that would alter any previous outcomes”, the spokesperson added, and the complainant asked the IOPC to review once again.

“Following that review, in January 2025 we found that outcome to be reasonable and proportionate.”

A Met Police spokesperson said DPS officers made further enquiries and examined the evidence last year. “It did not change the original outcome that the service provided by officers was acceptable,” the spokesperson said.

“The family were advised of the outcome in June [2024] and then appealed that outcome to the IOPC. The IOPC carried out a review and, in January 2025, found no new evidence that would alter any of the previous outcomes.”

Both the Met and the IOPC have closed their investigations. The IOPC said another review could be considered in light of any new evidence.

At the end of Flack’s inquest, coroner Mary Hassell said the alleged assault had “played out in the national press” following her arrest and had a serious impact on her mental health.

In April 2024, her mother Christine Flack told Sky News: “This wasn’t domestic violence. This was an accident. But she was portrayed in the court and in the newspapers as a domestic abuser, and that’s what hurts. That’s what I want got rid of – because she wasn’t.”

She said she believed her daughter was treated differently due to her celebrity status. “And that’s not on. She shouldn’t be treated better, but she shouldn’t be treated worse.”

This was not the first investigation into the handling of Flack’s case, with the Met initially referring itself to the watchdog just a few days after her death.

The DPS found there was no misconduct, prompting another complaint from Flack’s family to the IOPC.

In 2023, the IOPC ordered the force to apologise for not recording its reason for appealing against the caution, but said it had not identified any misconduct.

In the days after the TV presenter’s death, the CPS also reviewed its handling of the case.

Flack’s boyfriend, Lewis Burton, had said he did not support the prosecution, and following her death her management released a statement criticising the decision.

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At the time, a CPS spokesperson said it was normal practice for prosecutors to hold a debriefing after complex or sensitive cases have ended.

“This has taken place and found that the case was handled appropriately and in line with our published legal guidance,” they said.

Flack, 40, presented shows including spin-offs I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! NOW! and The Xtra Factor, as well as one season of the main X Factor show with former contestant Olly Murs, before becoming best known as the host of Love Island. She also won Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.

Sky News has contacted Flack’s family for comment.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK