France: V. Bolloré (Vivendi) says amounts for next TV rights tender for Ligue 1 will not decrease

Vincent Bolloré, president of the supervisory board's of both Vivendi and Canal+, pledged on his honor, before the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 club presidents and the members of the board of the LFP, that the amounts paid will not decrease in the next tender for the TV rights to Ligue 1 (2020-2024 period), sources indicated to Tank News Football on 16/03/2016. Noël Le Graët, president of the FFF, and Frederic Thiriez, president of the LFP, also attended this meeting.

This meeting was held while Vivendi's supervisory board authorised the board of its subsidiary Canal+ to enter into an exclusive distribution agreement with the pay-TV group beIN Sports France, as announced by the French telecommunications and media group on 18/02/2016.

The French Competition Authority has launched a market test in order to probe the evolution of competition on the French market for pay television. This process, conducted with different actors (rights holders, broadcasters, ISPs), is necessary for the Competition Authority take up all or part of injunctions taken against Vivendi and the Groupe Canal Plus, as…