Eurosport takes Canal+ to court for unpaid Covid carriage
NOVEMBER 15, 2021 12.08 EUROPE/LONDON BY JULIAN CLOVER


Eurosport studio at IBC (Credit; Getty)

Eurosport is crying “unfair competition” after Canal+ refused to settle its carriage fee payments at the height of the Covid pandemic.

Les Echos reports the Discovery subsidiary is seeking €10 million for the period around March 2020, when sports bodies were forced to cancel a string of events, while much of Europe was under lockdown.

Eurosport receives an annual €40 million from Canal for the distribution of its channels, but with next to no live sport. The Vivendi-owned pay-TV concern has so far not made the regular payment.

An initial hearing is due in January.

The case has echoes of a similar dispute between Canal and France Télévisions.