Canal Plus Afrique and Kwesé Sports seal Ligue 1 rights deals

The Ligue de Football Professionnel, the French football league, has today (Monday) confirmed rights deals in sub-Saharan Africa with pay-television broadcasters Canal Plus Afrique and Kwesé Sports.

The agreements, first reported by TV Sports Markets on January 9, concern rights to Ligue 1, the top division of French football, across the six seasons spanning 2018-19 to 2023-24.

Canal Plus Afrique has acquired French-language rights across the region, while Kwesé Sports has bought English- and Portuguese-language rights.

The rights were sold by beIN Media Group, which holds Ligue 1 international rights over the same six seasons in a deal worth a minimum of €80m ($97.8m) per season.

The contract also includes rights to the second-tier Ligue 2 and the Coupe de la Ligue knockout competition. The LFP said the deals represent a “significant increase” in the rights fee.

Didier Quillot, executive director of the LFP, added: “This first result encourages us to pursue the defined sales strategy and confirms the growing attractiveness of Ligue 1 Conforama thanks to the clubs’ investment to recruit new stars, train new talent and develop modern infrastructure. 

“The LFP supports this commercial strategy by demonstrating its commitment to promoting its competitions outside France, with international development being one of the five priorities of the strategic plan initiated in April 2017.”

In the current three-season cycle, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, French-language rights are held by Canal Plus while English- and Portuguese-language rights are held by pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports.