Vivendi Loses Out on French Soccer TV Rights After 34 Years
- Chinese-owned Mediapro ousts Canal+ in league’s rights auction
- Ligue 1 to get $1.33 billion per year from 2020, 60% increase
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Vivendi SA’s pay-television channel lost its three-decade hold on the broadcasting rights to French soccer, a major upset for the media company as a Chinese-backed competitor and other newcomers bid up prices by 60 percent.
Mediapro, a Spanish TV and film producer, won the rights to three of the main live packages for four seasons starting in mid-2020 and will create a sports channel to show the matches, the League of Professional Football said late Tuesday. Vivendi shares fell the most in more than three months.