Orange, Canal Plus win France Ligue 1 soccer rights

PARIS Feb 7 (Reuters) - Vivendi's (VIV.PA) Canal Plus (CNLP.PA) and France Telecom's Orange (FTE.PA) will share the rights to broadcast Ligue 1 games in 2008-2012, France's LFP football association said late on Wednesday.

It said the two firms would together pay 668 million euros a year.

A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Vivendi would pay 460 million euros a year, less than the 600 million euros it has paid since 2005, for the rights to broadcast most major games.

Orange won the rights to broadcast Saturday night clashes and games via video-on-demand and mobile phones. (Reporting by Benjamin Mallet; Editing by Louise Ireland)