Orange France must make €3.6m rights payment to Mediapro
June 7, 2021
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Spanish TV group Mediapro has won its legal battle against Orange France concerning football fees payments to Telefoot. The Paris Commercial Court has ruled that Orange France must pay €3.6 million to Mediapro for the Ligue 1 and 2 football TV rights.
The Court accepted Mediapro’s reasoning and refused Orange’s request of a compensation of over €6 million that the company had demanded following the closure of Telefoot.
Mediapro argued that there had been no interruption of service for Orange subscribers since they switched to Canal+ offers on the weekend of the break between the two channels.
The group, led by Jaume Roures, had been forced to sell its TV rights and reimburse the Professional Football League up to €100 million in exchange for the lack of legal action.
Roures’ group has already taken Canal+ to Court last November for “abuse of a dominant position”.