Altice Premier League deal part of ‘long-term strategy’

Altice customers in France and Monaco will be able to watch live coverage of football’s English Premier League anywhere and on any device under the terms of a rights deal that will play a key role in promoting the telecommunications company’s broadband services.

Altice announced yesterday (Thursday) that it had acquired rights for the league over three seasons, from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

The agreement comprises exclusive rights in France and Monaco and non-exclusive rights in Andorra, Luxembourg and Switzerland for all 380 games per season. Altice, which owns French telco Numericable-SFR, will pay about €100m ($106m) per season for the rights.

“This exclusive partnership with England's Premier League represents a new major step in our industrial plan,” Altice chief operating officer and SFR chairman Michel Combes said. “The convergence of our telecom assets with exclusive content is core to our long-term strategy.”

Altice entertainment and sports chief executive Nicolas Rotkoff added: “This is another big step for Altice's investment strategy to provide the best-in-class television content and broadband packages to its customers across the world.”