BeIN Sports, the Qatar-based international sports broadcaster, has successfully secured full rights in France for the men's UEFA European Championships national team soccer tournaments in 2024 and 2028. This significant development comes as a last-minute deal for the upcoming tournament scheduled to run from June 14 to July 14, 2024, in Germany.
For Euro 2024, BeIN will exclusively cover a total of twenty-six out of fifty-one Euro 2024 fixtures. The remaining twenty-five games will be broadcasted by prominent French commercial broadcasters TF1 and M6 through an agreement with UEFA established in May 2022. These include all four quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final from Euro 2024.
The deal for exclusive rights to broadcast Euro 2024 is reportedly worth around €25 million ($26.9 million).
Full coverage of all matches at Euro championship
In addition to its coverage of the upcoming event, BeIN has also announced that it will provide full coverage for all matches at the subsequent championship - Euro 2028 - which is set to take place across UK and Ireland. Notably, BeIN stated that it would be the only French network providing comprehensive coverage for this event.
This follows a similar arrangement during Euro (held across Europe due to COVID-19 pandemic), where all games were shown by BeIN alongside M6 and TF1. For this package of rights, BeIN reportedly paid €38 million.
The recent acquisition adds on top of other broadcasting rights held by BeIn Sports France under Florent Houzot's leadership as director of channels programs & editorial content. The network recently announced its commitment towards continuing Spanish soccer’s LaLiga broadcasts for at least two more seasons. Moreover, BeIN also holds broadcasting rights for other major sports leagues and events in France, including basketball’s NBA, American football’s NFL, ice hockey’s NHL, and tennis’ Wimbledon championships. The latter was recently renewed.
Future of football broadcasting in France
Looking ahead to the 2026 men's FIFA World Cup matches, M6 has already secured a deal for fifty-four out of one hundred and four games at that event. However, with approximately two months left until the start of Ligue 1 - French soccer's domestic top-tier league - in 2024-25 season, no main domestic rights deal has been struck yet. During the previous cycle from 2021-24 Amazon Prime and Canal Plus both covered games.
BeIN Sports' acquisition of full broadcasting rights for Euro 2024 and Euro 2028 is a significant development for sports fans across France. It not only ensures comprehensive coverage of these highly anticipated tournaments but also reinforces BeIN's position as a leading broadcaster in the world of sports.
