BeIN Sports Registers Net Loss Of $1.1B Since '12 Launch In France

Since launching in France in ’12, beIN Sports has registered a net loss of €1.03B ($1.1B), according to Claire Bader of CAPITAL. Despite a monthly turnover of around €20M ($21.2M) last quarter -- supported by subscriptions accounting for 93% of revenue -- the Canal+ competitor has “not been able to offset the incredible costs of the sports rights it has acquired.” Over the course of ’14 and ’15, beIN Sports invested close to €640M “to obtain the rights to broadcast the Champions League, Ligue 1 and the NBA.” The problem for beIN is that the “war over sports rights and seducing viewers is not about to slow down.” In addition to Canal, beIN “must compete with” the SFR’s parent company Altice Group, which now offers the Premier League. The proposed partnership with Canal+ “could have improved the balance,” but the French competition authority denied the proposal in June (CAPITAL, 12/13).