MTG Scores Rights for Spanish, Italian & French Football Leagues

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) has acquired the exclusive broadcast and online rights across the Nordic region for football from Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A until 2018, in addition to extending its exclusive rights agreement for France’s Ligue 1.

MTG now holds the exclusive rights for broadcast and online across Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland for La Liga and Serie A action. The group also extends its exclusive pact for France’s Ligue 1 in Denmark and Norway until 2018 to include Finland and Sweden from the beginning of next season. Earlier this month, MTG scored the exclusive broadcast and online rights for English Premier League football in Sweden, Denmark and Finland from 2016-19.

MTG acquired the Spanish, Italian and French league rights from MP & Silva. The two will also work together in Finland to create a premium football package for both MTG and third-party broadcast platforms.

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG's president and CEO, said: “La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 are amongst the leading and most watched football leagues in the world, so we are thrilled to add and extend these key premium rights to our international portfolio. We are the clear number one when it comes to not just football but sports coverage in the Nordics, and we will now be making even more exciting live content available to viewers on multiple platforms and screens.”

Peter Nørrelund, MTG's senior VP of sports, added: “Live week in, week out coverage of matches featuring top teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Lyon, with world-class players like Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Džeko, Pogba, Zlatan and Cavani can only make our products even more attractive for customers. We simply have the best football rights available, and our talented production teams, commentators and pundits will ensure that we deliver the best possible entertainment experiences for years to come.”

Marco Auletta, the CEO of MP & Silva, commented: “We are very pleased to work together with the strong team at MTG, which is the leading sports broadcaster in the Nordic region. This is an exciting and innovative partnership that will ensure multiplatform access for the many Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 fans in these countries.”