Vivendi Loses Out on French Soccer TV Rights After 34 Years
Vivendi SA’s pay-television channel lost its three-decade hold on the broadcasting rights to French soccer, a major upset for the media company as a Chinese-backed competitor and other newcomers bid up prices by 60 percent. Mediapro, a Spanish TV and film producer, won the rights to three of the main live packages for four seasons starting in mid-2020 and will create a sports channel to show the matches, the League of Professional Football said late Tuesday. Vivendi shares fell the most in more than three months.