French pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has acquired rights for the Ligue Nationale de Handball, France’s domestic handball league, it was announced this (Tuesday) afternoon.
The deal will run for five years, from 2014-15 to 2018-19.
BeIN Sports will show two matches per week on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and a magazine programme on Thursdays.
In acquiring the rights, beIN Sports has dislodged pay-television rival Canal Plus as the league’s rights-holder.
The rights fee was not immediately disclosed, but the Handnews.fr website reported that the deal is worth €20m ($27.4m) over the course of the agreement, or €4m per year. The previous deal with Canal Plus was reportedly worth €1.2m per year.