Canal+ ‘close to deal’ to resell Premier League rights to RMC Sport

French pay TV operator Canal+ is close to agreeing the resale of part of its English Premier League rights to Altice France-owned RMC Sport, according to local press.

According to sports paper L’Équipe, citing unnamed sources, the pay TV operator has made a formal request to the Premier League to co-distribute a substantial tranche of the rights to 380 matches per season that it secured.

The move, partly confirmed publicly by Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada, who has been quoted as saying he saw no reason to deprive SFR subscribers of access to Premier League games and contribute to inflation in the price of accessing football on TV in France, has given rise to speculation that an agreement between the pair could be struck for Champions League rights, controlled by RMC Sport.

Canal+ regained the Premier League rights for the next three seasons in November from previous rightsholder RMC Sport, having lost the rights to the Champions League to the latter.

At the time, Altice said that it would work with Canal+, in “the spirit of” an existing agreement giving Canal+ access to the Champions League, to provide RMC Sport subscribers access to the Premier League from next year. The operator was referring to an offer launched in September providing Canal+, BeIN Sports and RMC Sport to its subscribers for €40 a month.

Canal+ had earlier suffered another blow in sports when it lost Ligue 1 rights to Spanish entrant Mediapro.