Vivendi has said it will abide by a court ruling forcing pay-TV unit Canal Plus to broadcast Ligue 1 football matches under a sub-licensing deal with beIN Sports.
Its understood that were Canal refuse to honour the €332 million contract it would face a sanction of €1 million per day.
In a statement, Canal said it regretted the “unfair” situation brought about by the French football league (LFP) and its handling of recent rights auctions.
The crisis in French football began when the Spanish rights broker Mediapro failed to meet the payments for Ligue 1 coverage between 2020 and 2024. Canal, a long-term partner of the LFP, agreed to take on the rights until the competition could be retendered. The new bidding process resulted in Amazon paying €250 million per season for around 80% of the Ligue programme to the fury of Canal who had agreed to pay €332 million for the remaining 20%.
The first match will be played tonight (Friday) with coverage on Amazon Prime Video’s Pass Ligue 1. On Saturdays, Amazon will screen the 17.00 match with Canal taking the 21.00 match. On Sundays Amazon will have matches at 13.00, 15.00 (4 matches) and 20.45. Canal will broadcast the match at 17.00.
