The rights to show Ligue 1 football in France between '16-20 have been bought for a record sum of €726.5M ($995M) by TV companies Canal+ and beIN Sports.
The sum represents a significant increase on the €607M paid for the TV rights for the French top flight up to '16, and puts Ligue 1 among the most valuable leagues in the world.
French Professional Football League (LFP) President Frédéric Thiriez said, "This sum approaches what we expected. I wanted a league on the podium of the three best European nations, and I think we have done it, ahead of Germany and at the same level as Spain" (LFP). The AFP reported Canal+ "made the biggest offer to secure the right to the first choice of the two best Ligue 1 matches each week." BeIN Sports, a Qatari-backed cable broadcaster, "was the second highest bidder." None of the other competitors, such as Eurosport or telecom firm Orange, won any TV rights. The auction put France in fourth place in the European TV rights league -- ahead of Germany (€675M), but behind Spain (€750M), Italy (€960M) and especially England’s Premier League, which earns a massive €1.7B a year.
The LFP "had set a reserve price" above the €726M announced, but it "was not immediately revealed how much they wanted" (AFP, 4/5).
CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE: In London, Henry Mance reported Al Jazeera and Canal+ "are set to go head-to-head in a battle for Champions League football in France underlining the fierce competition among broadcasters for the sport’s lucrative television rights."
Monday’s auction is expected to feature Al Jazeera’s sports network, recently rebranded beIN Sports, as well as Canal+, the broadcaster owned by Vivendi.
Eurosport, in which U.S. network Discovery "has agreed to take a majority stake, may also bid." Enders Analysis analyst François Godard said, "It’s very open. BeIN Sports can be aggressive."
Sports rights "are seen as crucial by broadcasters because viewers are unlikely to swap them for rival content." They are "also a quick way to raise Qatar's international profile."
Such political aims, paradoxically, "may have restrained beIN Sports in an auction on Friday for the rights to show matches from France's top domestic leagues." Godard: "BeIN was not going to upset the French establishment -- that is not the way you do soft power" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 4/6).
