Jun 25 2011 |
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WSJ(6/24) Al Jazeera Soccer Bid Scores
Saturday, Jun 25, 2011
(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
By Inti Landauro and Hugo Lieber
(this item was originally published on Thursday)
PARIS -- Qatar-based television company Al Jazeera won some of the broadcasting rights to France's top soccer games in an auction Thursday, challenging the quasi-monopoly of French pay-TV company Canal Plus in the sport.
Al Jazeera agreed to pay 90 million euros ($129. million) a year for the right to broadcast two live premium games a week and for other associated rights over four seasons between 2012 and 2016, Frederic Thiriez, head of the French professional soccer league, said at a news conference. Broadcasting rights are the main source of revenue for France's top-league teams.
Al Jazeera 's foray into France's soccer broadcasting market comes as Qatar is ramping up its focus on soccer ahead of 2022, when it will host the soccer World Cup. Al Jazeera 's sports channel had already won the rights to broadcast French soccer games outside France for 200 million euros a year.
With some French soccer TV rights in hand, Al Jazeera now needs to buy or set up a TV platform to broadcast the games, analysts said.
The TV group has already approached French telecommunications carrier France Telecom SA to buy its Orange Sport TV channel, a France Telecom spokesman said. Al Jazeera declined to comment on the matter.
Analysts said Al Jazeera could also strike a deal with Canal Plus to recruit subscribers through the French pay-TV group.
"Only Canal Plus has the scale of subscribers to make it worth their while," said Francois Godard, an analyst at Enders Analysis.
Canal Plus Chief Executive Bertrand Meheut declined to comment on whether his group would enter into discussions with Al Jazeera .
A bid by Orange for the right to show matches on mobile devices was deemed too low by the league and rejected. Mr. Thiriez, the league president, said he was confident the league would succeed in selling those rights later, as well as the rights for the weekly games that Canal Plus and Al Jazeera didn't bid on.
For the four seasons from 2008 to 2012, the league had sold rights for all media platforms for a total of 668 million euros a year, more than the 510 million euros a year that Thursday's auction yielded.
Mr. Thiriez said he was "satisfied" with the outcome of the auction.
The bulk of the TV rights will be transferred to top league teams and will provide a significant amount of their overall revenue. Stadium attendance isn't as healthy in France as in such other countries as Germany and Britain.
Because of their lower cash flow, French teams have found it difficult to hold onto top world players and have struggled to keep French talent at home.
They have also struggled to shine in European competitions. None has won the prestigious Champion's League title since 1993.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
25-06-11 0751GMT
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