The beautiful game is back this weekend as Germany’s Bundesliga restarts its 2019/20 season and offers a glimmer of hope to football fans all over the world. Like nearly all global sport, the league ground to a halt back in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but now top-tier European soccer is back on the cards with some fantastic fixtures scheduled across Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Ready for kick-off? Here’s how to watch every Bundesliga match today – either on TV or via a reliable online live stream.
Bundesliga cheat sheet
The German Bundesliga restarts on Saturday, May 16 with matches being played behind closed doors – or without fans. Fox Sports has the rights to the Bundesliga in the US, meaning anyone without cable can watch by taking advantage of a FREE 1-week Hulu + Live TV offer.
You’ll find a complete Bundesliga fixture list below, but as a quick primer, the pick of the litter looks to be Borussia Dortmund vs FC Schalke 04 at 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CET / 9.30am ET this Saturday.
Dortmund have serious aspirations to lift the Salatschüssel this season and head into Saturday’s match second in the table, just four points behind league leaders Bayern Munich. Schalke, for their part, currently sit at sixth and a strong finish to the season could propel them into European football next season.
English football fans will be particularly interested in the match, as rising Three Lions star Jadon Sancho forms part of a ferocious Dortmund attack that also features Norwegian wunderkind Erling Braut Haaland, German international Mario Götze, and Eden Hazard’s younger brother, Thorgan.
American soccer fans have plenty of reason to want to tune in to the Bundesliga, too, with promosing youngsters like Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen) and Weston McKennie (Schalke) plying their trade in the Bundesliga this season alongside USMNT veterans John Brooks (Wolfsburg) and Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
With that in mind, here’s this weekend’s complete German football schedule, followed by how to watch the Bundesliga on TV and live stream matches online from anywhere in the world.
Bundesliga fixtures: complete restart schedule
With no less than nine first-rate football matches set to go ahead in the Bundesliga over the coming days, we hope you can join us as we rejoice in this small slice of normality returning.
Saturday, May 16
- Borussia Dortmund vs FC Schalke 04 – 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
- FC Augsburg vs VfL Wolfsburg – 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
- Fortuna Düsseldorf vs SC Paderborn 07 – 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
- RB Leipzig vs SC Freiburg – 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
- 1899 Hoffenheim vs Hertha Berlin – 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
- Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Mönchengladbach – 5.30 pm BST / 6.30pm CEST / 12.30pm ET
Sunday, May 17
- FC Köln vs Mainz 05 – 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CEST / 9.30am ET
- FC Union Berlin vs Bayern Munich – 5pm BST / 6pm CEST / 12pm ET
Monday, May 18
- Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen – 7.30pm BST / 8.30pm CEST / 2.30pm ET
How to get a FREE Bundesliga live stream today
Sky Sports has the broadcast rights to the Bundesliga in Germany and it’s going big on the restart today, announcing that all mid-afternoon fixtures will be available to watch for free – both online and on TV – in both Deutschland and neighbouring Austria.
This means its never been easier to get a free Dortmund vs Schalke live stream – or watch any of the other 3.30pm CEST kick-offs.
Matches will be available to watch for free on German TV on the Sky Sports News HD channel, but even more conveniently online via the German Sky Sports website.
The eligible Saturday fixtures are:
- Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke
- RB Leipzig vs SC Freiburg
- TSG Hoffenheim vs Hertha BSC
- Fortuna Düsseldorf vs SC Paderborn
- FC Augsburg vs VfL Wolfsburg
Anyone from these countries currently abroad may find they can’t access the streaming services they normally would at home. This is because of geo-blocking, but there’s a very easy solution in the form of a VPN…
How to watch the Bundesliga from outside your country
If you’re abroad and can’t bear to miss out on the big Bundesliga restart, don’t worry. While you may initially encounter a problem watching your usual domestic coverage in the form of geo-blocking, there’s an easy solution to this common annoyance.
It’s called a VPN and it’s a clever bit of software that relocates your device back to your country of origin – thereby allowing you to regain access to the services you normally use (and almost certainly pay for) back home.
After extensive testing, our personal favourite is ExpressVPN, which lets you change your IP address on pretty much whatever device you have, be it laptop, mobile, Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, games console, etc, so that it thinks it is in a different location.
We consider ExpressVPN to be the best because it’s so easy and straightforward. It also has very fast connections and watertight security. You can try it with a 30-day money back guarantee, or go for a much better value annual plan where there’s a massive 49% off and an extra 3 months free.
Once you have it downloaded and installed, just go ahead and open the VPN app, hit ‘choose location’, and you’ll virtually transport yourself back home – it really is that easy. Then you’re ready to watch a Bundesliga live stream of your choosing wherever you are in the world.
VPNs aren’t foolproof, though, and occasionally you’ll find that content still gets blocked even if you’re relocated your device back home. Sometimes, all you need to do is enter your browser’s private or Incognito mode to fix the issue – but sometimes you may be plain stumped.
Based on our experience, this is the exception rather than the rule, but it’s worth being aware – and another reason we recommend ExpressVPN, as it offers 24/7 customer support to help you solve any server woes you may encounter.
How to watch the Bundesliga live in the UK
Anyone wanting to watch the Bundesliga in Great Britain or Ireland is excellently served by BT Sport this weekend. Not only does it have exclusive rights to Bundesliga fixtures in the UK – it’s also showing every single match on TV!
This means subscribers will also be able to easily live stream all of this weekend’s Bundesliga games either on the BT Sport website or by using the BT Sport app.
In terms of getting BT Sport, it’s available as part of the provider’s wide range of TV and broadband packages – as well as being offered as an add-on with Sky.
But more temptingly, there’s now also the option of a BT Sport Monthly Pass, priced at just £25 a month on a contract-free basis – or Irish viewers can take advantage of an even cheaper €17 a month offer via Now TV.
In the past, BT Sport has tended to air three fixtures a week: on Friday nights as well as Saturday and Sunday afternoons. But with precious little else in the way of live sport, BT has revealed it will be offering complete coverage of the Bundesliga restart – details of which are just below.
If you’re out of the UK or Ireland but have subscribed to a streaming service you want to access from abroad, remember you can always use a VPN to enjoy all the content you’ve already paid for back home.
How to watch a FREE Bundesliga live stream in the US
Soccer fans in the United States may already know that Fox Sports is the current US TV home of the Bundesliga, showing multiple matches each weekend across its arsenal of channels – usually Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 or Fox Deportes (for Spanish language viewers).
Assuming you have cable, this means you’ll be able to watch the Bundesliga restart on Fox either at home, online or on the network’s Fox Sports Go app for tablets and smartphones.
Anyone who doesn’t have cable but wants easy access to Fox Sports may want to consider Hulu. The popular streaming service’s Hulu + Live TV package typically includes the two main Fox Sports channels – FS1 and FS2, but check your local availability here – and offers a FREE 1-week trial so you can see if it’s the right option for you.
If you subscribe to such a service, remember that it doesn’t have to stop streaming if you leave your country of origin – just use a VPN to enjoy all the content you’ve already paid wherever you are.
Watch the Bundesliga: live stream the soccer in Canada
In Canada, subscription TV channel Sportsnet has the rights to show German top-tier football action.
If you don’t have cable or get Sportsnet as part of your package, you can sign up to its Sportsnet Now streaming service to live stream all the Bundesliga matches Canada has to offer – and from a wide range of devices.
You’ll need the more premium SN Now+ offering, but it costs a reasonable CA$9.99 for a 7-day trial – or $27.99 a month if you want to keep it on a commitment-free basis.
If you decide you like it and sign up, but subsequently find yourself away from Canada unable to access it like you would at home, remember that you can always deploy a VPN to help you watch the services and content you already pay for back home.
How to watch the Bundesliga in Australia on TV or online
If you want to watch the Bundesliga restart in Australia, then you’ll need beIN Sports, a pay TV sports channel that’s the exclusive broadcaster of German top-tier soccer Down Under.
You don’t have to pay a premium price, though, as Australian streaming service Kayo Sports offers beIN Sports as part of a AU$24.99 a month package that also includes Fox Sports and ESPN channels – a great value solution for any sports fan that doesn’t want the commitment of cable. There’s even a FREE 2-week trial on offer right now so you can watch this weekend’s Bundesliga soccer for free!
Alternatively, beIN Sports Connect is available direct through the network as a standalone streaming option. It costs $19.99 a month with a free 2-week trial but doesn’t come with any additional channels.
Remember: anyone from Australia who finds themselves out of the country for the big match need only fire up a VPN, which helps facilitate access to the streaming services and content people would normally watch (and pay for) at home.