Kirch World Cup TV buy

July 3, 2001 Posted: 1422 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- Germany's Kirch said it exercised an option on Monday to acquire the worldwide television rights for the 2002 and 2006 football World Cups.

Kirch was informed on June 2 it had 30 days to exercise its option after ISMM Group, which had paid football's world governing body FIFA $810 million for the rights outside Europe, filed for bankruptcy.

Kirch already held the European rights to next year's World Cup in Korea and Japan and for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Kirch is hoping to resell the U.S. rights it has acquired to a U.S. broadcaster.

Television companies around the world will have to pay a fee to Kirch to broadcast matches during the tournaments.

"Exercising our option today puts an end to the uncertainty about the future of the broadcasting rights to FIFA events," said Alexander Liegl, manager of sports rights at Kirch's broadcasting arm, KirchMedia.

ISMM filed for bankruptcy in March and was refused permission by a Swiss court for a three-month stay while it sought a new partner and restructured its business.

France's Vivendi Universal (PEX) had expressed interest in bailing out ISMM, but pulled out because of the high cost of such a move, believed to be $650 million.

ISMM had agreed to pay FIFA 650 million Swiss francs ($376 million) for the 2002 event and 750 million francs ($434 million) for 2006.

Last week, Kirch took over all of HBS, the provider of technical broadcasting services and signals for the next two World Cups, after its joint venture partner ISMM failed to keep its financial commitments.

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