OCTOBER 19, 2001
Kirch raises cash with soccer rights sales
The Kirch Group has raised more than a billion dollars in the last few days by the sale of the TV rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup soccer competition.
At the moment the rights have only been resold in only 18 countries and so Kirch is looking at a hefty profit on the deals. The company intends to do the same with the Formula 1 World Championship in the future having acquired the rights to the sport for 100 years. However the German company still needs to do a deal with the F1 teams before that arrangement will bear fruit.