Al-Jazeera has made further incursions into the French soccer broadcast rights market by securing further matches in Ligue 1 between 2012 and 2016.
The Qatari broadcaster has secured a deal with the Ligue de Football Professionel to screen six matches each week from Ligue 1 on a pay-per-view basis. It has also purchased the rights to a weekly magazine programme. Financial details were not officially released but the deal is widely reported in the French press to be worth a total of €240 million (US$315.8 million).
Al-Jazeera, which already holds the international rights to Ligue 1 for the same period and the bulk of the French rights to the Uefa Champions League from 2012 to 2015, saw off competition from Canal Plus. The French subscription broadcaster retains the rights to two matches a week from Ligue 1. According to La Tribune, it had failed to offer a suitable rights fee for the pay-per-view package to the LFP as a minimum guarantee, instead proposing a greater share of revenues from pay-per-view sales – giving the league an estimate of between €50 million (US$65.75 million) and €70 million (US$92.04 million) a season.
Picture shows 2010/11 Ligue 1 champions Lille.
