Croatian commercial television tripled its sports program in a few months: in addition to handball and Formula 1, now live broadcasts of Dinamo's qualifying matches against Swiss FC Thun are coming.
RTL has acquired the broadcasting rights for Dinamo's two matches in the second preliminary round of the Champions League, where the Croatian champion faces the Swiss champion FC Thun. The away match will be played at the Stockhorn Arena in Thun, while the return leg at Maksimir is scheduled for July 28, 2026 at 8:00 PM. Both matches will be available on RTL's television channels, with commentary by Filip Brkić, and reporter Donna Diana Prćić has traveled to Thun as a field correspondent.
Dinamo in the Champions League is just the latest in a series of sports acquisitions by RTL, which has practically tripled its own sports content in just a few months. Last year, the television network bought exclusive rights to broadcast all Formula 1 races for the 2026, 2027, and 2028 seasons, and since March this year, all fans of the sport can watch practice sessions, qualifying, sprint races, and main races without an additional subscription, either on television channels or on the Voyo streaming platform. In the second half of May, RTL also announced the broadcast of all matches of the young Croatian national teams at the UEFA Under-17 European Championship in Estonia (May 25 - June 7) and at the UEFA Under-19 European Championship in Wales (June 28 - July 11).
RTL Croatia's program director Ana Bižić explained the logic behind these investments to Jutarnji list.
"RTL has been closely associated with handball for many years, which has become an important part of how our audience recognizes us. Handball is an excellent example of how a sports right can become part of the identity of our television channels and the Voyo platform", Bižić emphasized, noting that Voyo is also recognized as the home of FNC. Handball was actually RTL's pioneering move: in 2009, they bought the rights for the World Handball Championship from HTV and have since continuously broadcast world and European handball competitions.
Bižić describes Formula 1 as a project comparable to handball in strategic importance.
"We secured broadcasting rights for our channels for a period of three seasons, with a clear commitment and investment in top-quality production, comprehensive race coverage, and exclusive content directly from the track", she said, adding that RTL is actively looking for opportunities to further expand its sports offering, but that every investment must also have financial justification.
Commentator Filip Brkić, who this season covers handball, F1, and now Dinamo's European matches, welcomed the news of the new rights with enthusiasm.
"We watched exciting matches of our U-17 and especially U-19 national team, which reached the semi-finals of the European Championship, and now we have Dinamo in Champions League qualifying. The public's focus is gradually shifting back to the club season after the World Championship ended", Brkić told Jutarnji list. He reminds that RTL also has experience with football from the past: they broadcast the national team's qualifying matches from Slaven Bilić's first term and two seasons of the English Premier League.
For Formula 1 broadcasts, RTL has assembled a team of external collaborators led by Ivan Blažičko and Neven Novak, along with Ante Vetma and Anđelko Kecman, while Brkić hosts the studio show.
"Ivan Blažičko is an institution, and generations in Croatia grew up on his F1 broadcasts. The audience reactions are phenomenal", said Brkić. RTL has not yet specified whether the package with Dinamo's matches will include any other European matches of Croatian clubs, and Bižić emphasizes that any further investment must have both strategic and commercial sense.
