France
LNR pursues private equity talks, but ‘not just to pay off clubs’ debts’
The Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), the organising body for French rugby’s union’s Top 14 and Pro D2, is open to continuing discussions over a private equity deal worth €200m ($233.4m) b
‘Sport in France’ to show French top-tier ice hockey league
The ‘Sport in France’ free-to-air channel will broadcast the country’s top-tier men’s ice hockey league in the 2020-21 season.
Inv
France Télévisions and Eurosport audiences hold up for September Tour de France
Domestic viewing figures for the Tour de France remained strong on both France Télévisions, the public-service broadcaster, and Eurosport, the Discovery-owned sports broadcaster, despite the shifting o…
LNH streams matches not aired by beIN ahead of ‘likely’ OTT launch
The Ligue Nationale de Handball (LNH), the top men’s handball league in France, is to broadcast all matches not shown by rights-holding broadcaster beIN Sports this season ahead of the probable launch o…
Canal Plus rejects notion of Téléfoot deal for satellite customers only
Canal Plus would not be willing to agree a distribution deal for Téléfoot that only allowed it to offer the French football subscription service to its satellite customers, according to Maxime Saada, p…
Canal Plus makes legal challenge to Mediapro’s Téléfoot demands
French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus has initiated legal proceedings in a complaint over the ‘unequal’ treatment it feels is being meted out by agency and production group Mediapro in carriage tal…
Discovery seals European handball deals in France and Poland
International media group Discovery has finalised a deal for a host of European Handball Federation rights in France and Poland with the Infront agency
Eleven retains NFL rights in three European countries, beIN renews in France
International subscription broadcaster Eleven Sports has retained its rights to the National Football League in Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal
OneFootball renews Sky Deutschland deal for PPV live 2. Bundesliga and Premier League highlights
German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland and OneFootball have renewed a distribution agreement that allows the Berlin-based digital platform to offer Sky’s live German football coverage to its u…
L’Équipe TV poised to land French basketball league rights
Digital terrestrial broadcaster L’Équipe TV is reportedly poised to acquire rights to the Ligue Nationale de Basket.
Mediapro poised to add Orange carriage deal for Téléfoot
Spanish agency and production group Mediapro is thought to have agreed a carriage deal with French telco Orange for its Téléfoot subscription service.
Eurosport close to EHF Champions League rights deal in France
Pan-European broadcaster Eurosport is close to finalising an agreement in France for rights to handball’s EHF Champions League from the 2020-21 season.
NFL lands free-to-air exposure in France in late L’Équipe deal
L'Équipe, the Amaury Group-owned free-to-air digital terrestrial channel in France, has acquired rights to show a weekly match from American football’s National Football League.
Canal Plus locks in European Tour rights for eight years in France renewal
Canal Plus and the European Tour renewed their deal in France for a mammoth eight years in what is seen as an attempt by the broadcaster to fend off the potential threat of Discovery’s GolfTV channel.
LaLiga broadcast rights on the market in heavyweight European countries
Mediapro, the international sales agency of the Spanish LaLiga, is to issue an invitation to tender in the coming week covering broadcast rights in seven European countries from 2021-22 to 2025-26, SportBusiness…
Prud’homme among senior exits in Discovery’s European ‘streamlining’
Laurent Prud’homme, head of Eurosport France and previously senior vice-president of rights acquisitions and syndication at Eurosport, is leaving his position amid a raft of departures across Europe u…
‘Sport in France’ extends French women’s handball coverage into 2020-21
The ‘Sport in France’ free-to-air channel will continue to broadcast the country’s top-tier women’s handball league into the 2020-21 season.
Inv
Audience records broken during Lyon-Wolfsburg Women’s Champions League final
Sunday’s Uefa Women’s Champions League final between Lyon and Wolfsburg attracted record viewing figures in both France and Germany.