Al Jazeera moves in on more football rights for France

Al Jazeera’s battle with Canal Plus over premium sports rights in France looks set to enter a new phase. According to a report in Le Figaro newspaper, the Qatar-based broadcaster is close to striking a deal to acquire French rights to Spain’s La Liga football for €20 million.

Rightsholder MediaPro has already rejected an offer of €6.5 million from Canal Plus. The French pay TV broadcaster and Al Jazeera have been locked in a struggle to acquire national and international football rights that most recently saw the pair agree to share Italian Serie A rights.

Al Jazeera has acquired rights to some French Ligue 1 games, with Canal Plus holding the remainder, while the Qatar broadcaster also secured rights to European Champions League matches and, together with M6, Europa League games. Canal Plus retains rights to English Premier League matches.