Not losing a crumb of the matches of the 2022 Golden Ball, Karim Benzema, or those of Cristiano Ronaldo: Canal announced on Tuesday that it had acquired the broadcasting rights for the Saudi Arabian Football Championship. The agreement runs “for the next two seasons” for France and Africa, specifies the press release from the group. The 2023/2024 season begins on August 11. Canal will broadcast two meetings a week on its antennas.
Saudi Arabia has launched major maneuvers to exist on the global football scene by attracting several of its stars to its championship, starting with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who arrived in Al-Nassr in January.
The first big name to jump on the bandwagon was none other than his former Real Madrid partner Karim Benzema. Free of any contract, the Ballon d’Or 2022 signed for three years at Al-Ittihad in early June.
The French striker is joined by his compatriot N’Golo Kanté. The 32-year-old defensive midfielder signed with the Jeddah club for three years. Canal is a subsidiary of the Vivendi group which generated revenue of 9.6 billion euros in 2022, up 10%.
The Canal group, present in more than 50 countries, boasts 25.5 million subscribers worldwide, including 16 million outside mainland France.
