French pay-television broadcaster beIN Sport has acquired the rights to the next three editions of French football’s Trophée des Champions, from 2013 to 2015.
BeIN Sport is paying a fee of around €360,000 ($395,000) per year, 25 per cent more than previous rights-holder commercial broadcaster M6 did, according to French newspaper L’Équipe. M6 is said to have paid €288,660 per year in the three years from 2010 to 2012. The last two editions of the cup were sublicensed by M6 to pay-television operator Canal Plus.
Al Jazeera-owned beIN Sport is understood to have been the only broadcaster to have replied to the league’s invitation to tender for the rights, which was launched on April 22.
The Trophée des Champions is the opening match of the French season and is played by the winner of the domestic league, Ligue 1, and the winner of the national cup competition, the Coupe de France. The Ligue Professionnel de Football, the French league, is the rights-holder.
The 2013 edition will take place on August 3 in Libreville, Gabon. The match will be between Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, and either Bordeaux or Evian Thonon Gaillard, which are the 2013 Coupe de France finalists.