European streaming network Viaplay has struck a deal to show action from French soccer's top-tier Ligue 1 through to 2029, in the Netherlands and the Nordic countries.
A live rights deal has now been unveiled across five markets (the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland), which sees Viaplay begin its coverage of Ligue 1 action with the match between Nantes and Monaco tomorrow (January 10). It will then run through the 2028-29 campaign.
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This ends a blackout of the 18-team league across these countries.
Pay-TV broadcaster Ziggo Sport was the previous Dutch Ligue 1 rightsholder, in a deal for the 2021-24 cycle which ended after the 2023-24 campaign.
In the Nordics, meanwhile, rights were fragmented for that cycle after Viaplay held them between 2018 and 2021.
There are currently 10 Dutch players contracted to Ligue 1 sides, among the most prominent of whom is Monaco’s Jordan Teze.
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By GlobalDataThe Infront agency is the LFP’s media rights distribution partner across the five markets in question, through a deal announced in May.
The most recent LFP rights deal came in mid-December, when a multi-year partnership with Sport 24, the in-flight and on-ship entertainment service owned by international sports agency IMG, was unveiled.
The last six months have been a tumultuous time for the LFP when it comes to its media rights in general. As one example of the chaos, domestic rights for the current cycle were only sold a matter of weeks before the start of 2024-25, at a significantly lower value than the LFP Media division had originally hoped for and predicted.
DAZN and BeIN Sports now show the league live domestically.
Other major European soccer leagues shown by Viaplay in the Netherlands include Germany’s Bundesliga (also through to 2029), and the Premier League in England.
Mid-November saw Viaplay unveil William Linders as its new chief executive in the Netherlands to succeed Roger Lodewick.
The Nordics and the Netherlands are now the broadcaster’s prominent markets, after serious financial issues in 2023 led to its retreat from most of its previously-entered expansion markets last year.
