Benfica TV bolsters football portfolio

Benfica TV, the pay-television channel operated by Portuguese Primeira Liga football club Benfica, has acquired rights for the top divisions of football in Italy and France.

Benfica TV will start showing Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1 from the start of the 2015-16 season, according to director Domingos Soares de Oliveira.

The lengths of the agreements were not disclosed.

Oliveira added that Benfica TV would have a “violent battle” to retain rights to the English Premier League beyond the 2015-16 season.