L’Équipe adds Portuguese cup final rights to European cup deals

French digital terrestrial broadcaster L’Équipe TV has acquired rights to this season’s final of the Taça de Portugal cup competition.

It acquired the rights from the Spring Media agency. The latter signed a deal earlier this month with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) to sell international broadcast rights to the final.

L’Équipe will exclusively broadcast the final, which will be contested by top Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto on August 1.

The broadcaster previously held rights to the Taça de Portugal final in 2015-14 and 2015-16, but the competition has been without a French broadcaster since Altice-owned SFR Sport last broadcast the final in 2016-17.

L’Équipe’s deal for this season’s final continues the recent trend by the digital terrestrial broadcaster to acquire rights to European club cup competitions.

It picked up rights to the latter stages of German football’s DFB Pokal, which had been without a broadcaster in France since the expiry of the contract with pay-television’s beIN Sports in 2018.

It also agreed a two-season deal, covering 2020-21 and 2021-22, for exclusive rights to the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup, which gives the broadcaster rights to show about 20 matches per season in total from the two competitions.