Fans of Ligue 1 in the US will be able to watch compatriot Folarin Balogun through BeIN Sports for the next five seasons. (Manuel Queimadelos/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

Qatari pay-TV broadcast heavyweight BeIN Sports unveiled a last-minute, 27-market deal for the top two tiers of French  soccer, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, on the eve of the new season. 

The tie-up was announced by BeIN hours before the start of the 2024-25 campaign and stretches across the US, Canada, Turkiye, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through 2028-29.

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It adds to BeIN’s domestic rights deal for Ligue 1, which also runs through 2028-29 and sees the network serve as a rights holder with DAZN, which shows the bulk of games each weekday from the 18-team league.

This represents a five-season extension for BeIN in all 27 markets – it has shown Ligue 1 action in MENA, the US, and Canada, since 2012, and in Turkiye since 2015 (via the Digiturk local subsidiary).

The new deal comes as a welcome boost for Ligue 1, which has seen the appeal of its media rights diminish significantly during the tender process for this upcoming cycle.

The league’s star player, French icon Kylian Mbappe, signed with Spanish giants Real Madrid at the end of 2023-24, a move which is visibly having an impact on how much interest networks have in the property. 

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Mbappe’s former employers, perennial champions Paris Saint-Germain, are owned by Qatar Sports Investments, who also own BeIN Media Group. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi heads up both.

The UK is one of the most prominent markets in which no Ligue 1 coverage deal is currently in place.

In terms of covering top-tier European soccer, last week saw BeIN strike a deal across MENA and Asia-Pacific for Spain’s LaLiga, through 2027-28.

BeIN has also returned as a LaLiga rightsholder in Australia and New Zealand.

Other top-tier soccer competitions shown by BeIN across MENA include England’s Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga. 

The value of BeIN’s domestic Ligue 1 rights deal for the next five seasons is estimated at just over $540 million.

High-profile Ligue 1 players from the 27 markets in question include Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Folarin Balogun (US), and Jonathan David (Canada).

Friday also saw Vivendi-owned France-based international broadcast giant Canal Plus extend its rights in Sub-Saharan Africa to cover Ligue 1, through the end of 2028-29.

The broadcaster, through its Canal Plus Afrique arm, has shown Ligue 1 in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa since the beginning of the 2018-19 season.