PARIS: Chinese-owned Mediapro crashed French football’s television rights party in style Tuesday, snapping up the right to broadcast Ligue 1 matches domestically for the period 2020 to 2024 for 1.153 billion euros ($1.33 billion) annually, the French league (LFP) announced. Based in Spain but owned by the Chinese private equity fund Orient Hontai, Mediapro snapped up the leading packages put up for auction on Tuesday as longtime French football broadcaster Canal+ was left empty-handed. It proves that our football is getting better, and broadcasters are starting to recognise that too. “We’ve always said that the Ligue 1 was undervalued.”It is now expected that Mediapro create a channel specifically for French football. The English Premier League remains well ahead of the competition with its existing deal worth 2.3 billion euros per season for the 2016-19 cycle.

Source: New Strait Times May 29, 2018 23:11 UTC