ART TV buys Moroccan soccer broadcasting rights

The Arab satellite channel "ART" will be broadcasting matches of the Moroccan selection and first league championship, under a five-year broadcasting rights agreement signed Thursday.

ART will be paying 7 million Dirhams (US $700,000) in the first year of the contract, with payments expected to reach 15 million Dirhams (US $1.5 million) in the last year of the agreement. Chairman of the Moroccan soccer grouping (GNF), Mhamed Agouzal, said with the considerable financial support it is bringing to Moroccan football clubs, ART will become more of a sponsor and a partner.

The lion share in the broadcasting rights will be paid to the clubs and finance Moroccan soccer, he added explaining that the agreement will also make Moroccan soccer more known abroad thanks to the channel that broadcasts in Europe, Arab countries and Australia.