France’s media regulator, the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel, has questioned aspects of Canal Plus’s exclusive carriage deal with pay-television rival beIN Sports.
In February, Canal Plus agreed to become the official carriage partner for beIN Sports’ channels in a five-year deal, from 2016 to 2020.
The CSA said that the deal could lead to the two parties agreeing not to compete for future sports-rights packages, according to the BFM Business news service. The regulator also raised doubts about the compatibility of the agreement with Canal Plus’s existing exclusive carriage deal with the French division of pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport.
The CSA added that the structure of the agreement could mean that beIN Sports is less willing to agree sublicensing deals with free-to-air broadcasters.
The regulator’s concerns were noted in a confidential opinion, according to reports.
France’s competition authority, l'Autorité de la Concurrence, was due to rule on the deal by the end of May, but delayed its decision until the first half of this month after saying that Canal Plus had “brought new proposals” to the table.