Canal Plus, which until now has always had the principal broadcasting rights for France’s League 1 soccer, has failed to get any rights for the period 2020-2024. The Spanish group Mediapro, a new-comer on the French broadcasting scene, has bought the rights to the best matches, in particular those on Sunday night.
Created in 1994 and run by the Catalan businessman Jaume Roures, Mediapro has been principally present only in Spain until now. Although it is part of a Spanish group, Imagina, the majority of its assets are held by the Chinese fund Orient Hontai Capital.
Mediapro is particularly interested in obtaining the TV rights for sports: it has the rights for the Spanish League of Champions and 8 out of 10 matches of the Spanish championship. The group also bought the local broadcasting rights of the Italian Championship for the period 2018-2022, until now held by Sky Italia. At the end of May, however, the Italian league cancelled the agreed sale of these rights when Mediapro refused to pay a bank guarantee. Another tender will be launched.
Sport is not Mediapro’s only interest, it is also active in the cinema, producing Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” and the series “The Young Pope”.
Mediapro has agreed to pay the French Football League about €1 billion per season and create a new channel within two years. The group hopes to obtain between 3 and 3.5 million subscribers, each paying €25 a month.
Sources: capital.fr, le parisien
