Al Jazeera Buy French Ligue 1 Soccer Rights to Broadcast in France

Canal Plus will share TV rights for Ligue 1 French soccer with Al Jazeera in a deal from 2012 to 2016. Canal Plus has has won four packages, see whilst Al Jazeera will broadcast  two live games a week.

Al Jazeera already had recent involvement with Ligue 1 soccer, story having secured the international rights for the league last months, pills and this week were the surprise bidders for national broadcasts rights in France. The broadcasters acquired one of five lots available for around US$128m per season, giving them the live rights to Friday night and Sunday evening games.

Canal Plus, who have been long term rights holders of the French top flight, won four packages to Ligue 1 from 2012 to 2016, for a total of approximately US$600m per season. The two deals mean that the French league stands to earn around US$728m per season.

It is not yet clear on which channel Al Jazeera will broadcast the games they have purchased. Reports suggest that the broadcaster has been in talks with Orange to take a share in the Orange Sport channels.

It was not all good news for the French league, however, as they failed to sell another four lots covering mobile rights and pay-per-view, as they failed to reach the required price.