That French World Cup qualifying match could mean extra cash for broadcaster TF1 next year

Tuesday night's remarkable 3-0 victory to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit in France's World Cup play-off against Ukraine was as uplifting for TF1's shares as for national pride. Though the broadcaster rarely books a direct profit from tournaments such as the World Cup, the company's shares jumped by more than 5 percent on Wednesday morning as investors looked forward to the indirect gains from improved relationships with advertisers, the pull of a young, male audience and a boost to brand awareness. "If you have the national team in (the tournament), it makes a huge difference," said Claudio Aspesi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. "Placing your best customers' ads in the best slots in the right games will win you loyalty and goodwill from customers. "We had assumed for 2014-15 fundamentally no growth ... but we were starting from the assumption that France would not qualify." (Full story here: http://reut.rs/I5lirM)