France: TF1 acquires FTA World Cup rights
January 14, 2016
The TF1 group has acquired from FIFA a package of media rights for the next four major world football competitions, enhancing the Group’s line-up of major sporting events across all its media platforms (broadcast and digital) in France:
– The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar: The Group will offer exclusive, free-to-air broadcasts on TF1 of the top 28 matches in each competition (the best 16 group-stage matches, the top five fixtures in the round of 16, the three most attractive quarter-finals, both semi-finals, the third-place play-off, and the final).
– The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019: The Group has acquired full rights to this competition, hosted by France, which promises to be a stand-out event both for the French public and for French women’s football.
– The FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia. The Group has acquired full rights to this competition, which will bring together the best team from each of the six Confederations alongside the 2014 FIFA World Champions (Germany) and the host country (Russia).
The TF1 group’s Chief Executive Officer, Nonce Paolini, hailed this development: “We are delighted about this landmark agreement with FIFA, which gives the Group the rights to four major world football competitions over the next six years. Adding these flagship sporting events to the line-up on our channels and digital platforms will significantly enhance our offering. These acquisitions are consistent with our responsible rights purchasing policy, and are fully in line with our objective of delivering exciting, headliner content that is free to the public.”