BeIN Sport "has renewed its partnership" with the French Professional Football League (LFP) for the int'l media rights to Ligue 1. The Al Jazeera-owned broadcaster will pay the LFP €80M ($109M) a year "for the chance to market the rights" to Ligue 1 from '18-24, up from its current annual fee of €32.5M ($44M) (SOCCEREX, 6/2). ... The 2014 FIFA World Cup "is expected to encourage consumers to replace their old TVs with ultra-high definition ones, a move that could give a boost" to Taiwan's 4K2K panel shipments. DisplaySearch said that Taiwanese flat screen suppliers Innolux and AU Optronics, which have taken the lead in the global 4K2K TV screen market, "are expected to benefit most from such an uptrend" (CNA, 6/3). ... FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke and Brazil Deputy Sports Minister Luis Fernandes opened the Int'l Broadcasting Centre in Rio de Janeiro for the World Cup. Valcke: "This is our link to the world. From here the world will connect to the World Cup" (FIFA). ... London-based startup Squawka is entering the fantasy sports market by releasing a free-to-play product called Battle Mode. Squawka, recently named one of the fastest growing businesses in the U.K. by Smarta and Santander, already attracts 200,000 unique users a day across web and mobile properties (Squawka).
