Spanish agency Mediapro has said it will form a dedicated football channel open to all “premium TV operators” in France after securing the lion’s share of rights to Ligue 1, the top tier of domestic club football.
Mediapro has revealed further details regarding its plans for the rights after the deal was announced on Tuesday. The Ligue de Football Professionnel secured a 60 per cent increase in value for the domestic rights to Ligue 1 through deals with Mediapro and pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports, with the agreements ending the status of pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus as the long-time home of the competition.
The agreements see Mediapro become the new major player in Ligue 1 broadcasting, with the LFP recouping €1,153,471,723 ($1.38bn) per season for the rights or €4,613,886,892 in total for the four campaigns spanning 2020-21 to 2023-24. The current rights cycle, covering 2016-17 to 2019-20, generates a total of €748.5m per season.
In a statement issued yesterday (Wednesday), Mediapro said: “The group will create a special channel that will be available to all operators. The group plans to create a thematic football channel, with uninterrupted programming seven days a week and 24 hours a day, which will be offered to all premium TV operators broadcasting in France.”
A total of seven packages were made available in the tender process, with Mediapro securing lots one, two and four. Lot one will offer one live match every Sunday at 9pm and two magazine programmes before and after the contest.
Lot two will include two live matches per round, including one match on Fridays at 9pm and one on Saturdays at 5pm, as well as a Friday evening pre-game programme. Lot four will feature up to five live matches per round kicking off at 1pm and 3pm on Sundays, as well as a Sunday morning magazine programme.