Canal+ pays first instalment of Ligue 1 broadcasting rights package

L’Équipe have reported earlier this evening that French broadcast Canal+ has paid the first instalment of its Ligue 1 rights package, subcontracted by BeIN Sports, consisting of two games per matchday. 

The channel had initially pulled out of the €332m deal after the majority of the games were awarded to Amazon for €250m in June. Following a court defeat on Thursday in its litigation with BeIN and the French football authorities – the LFP – which ordered Canal+ to broadcast the games, the channel has now paid its initial instalment of €68m.

BeIN will now transfer the sum to the LFP, after the court decision ruled that the price of the instalment would rise by €1m for every day Canal+ delayed its payment. The channel will now show its first two games of the season this weekend, Troyes-PSG and Metz-Lille, at no extra price to its subscribers.