Eurosport gains international rugby rights

Eurosport has struck a deal with France’s Ligue Nationale de Rugby to secure exclusive international rights to the French rugby union Pro D2 league.

Eurosport already holds domestic rights to the championship. The latest agreement will enable it to deliver all matches in French rugby union’s second tier league live to European markets through its OTT platform, Eurosport Player. In Asia-Pacific Pro D2 will be broadcast live on the Group’s channels.

“I’m delighted by today’s announcement which reinforces our ongoing strategy of delivering the highest quality live sports programming across all our platforms,” said Peter Hutton, chief executive of Eurosport Group.

“By making Pro D2 matches available on the Eurosport Player, we are significantly enhancing our OTT offer, which already includes some of the world’s most exciting sports.   And in Asia-Pacific, where we are committed to developing our content portfolio, Pro D2 is the perfect complement to the existing rugby offer which currently includes rugby union Top 14.”