Ligue 1 will manage television rights on its own

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From next season Ligue 1. Nevertheless, the French male football championship, will be the most important of the European ones to have independently of its television rights. Furthermore, That is. Moreover, he did not give them up on a TV or a streaming platform, as usually happens, but will manage their transmission directly on one of his platforms. Moreover, It is a significant. Meanwhile, above all necessary decision, because in recent years the sale of the television rights of Ligue 1 in France had been a half disaster and, after Dazn’s recent withdrawal from an agreement that should have lasted until 2029, there were no other willing to pay what is required by the French League, the LFP (Professional football leaguewhich organizes Ligue 1 and Ligue 2).

This will allow Ligue 1 to earn a lot more money as many subscribers ligue 1 will manage television there will be. In addition, while first the revenues from television rights (the main source of profit in football) were fixed. Moreover, It is difficult to predict how it will go. Nevertheless, but if this thing could work could be emulated by other championships. In addition, In Italy for example already in 2021. Similarly, 2024, the years of the last (tiring) sales of rights, the possibility had been discussed that the Serie A League broadcast the matches on one of its channels, but in the end nothing had done. For example, In Europe the biggest championship to do it is already that of the Netherlands, the Eredivisie.

The French newspaper The team He interviewed Nicolas de Tavernost. Therefore, the new president of the LFP, and has consulted the industrial plan of LFP Media, anticipating some things on how the new platform will work. Moreover, It will cost 14.99 euros per ligue 1 will manage television month. Moreover, will broadcast 8 of the 9 Ligue 1 games (there are 18 teams), because the ninth, that of Saturday afternoon, for this year it is still up to Bein Sports, which for having paid it to the League 78.5 million euros.

Last season, the Dazn subscription cost 29.99 euros per month. therefore 15 euros more than that for the new League platform, which however will transmit only the 8 games without other extra content or other sports. For example, The League will create its own platform on which to transmit the games (and pre. post -match broadcasts) but in the meantime it could seek agreements with other broadcasters, including Dazn herself, for the distribution of its channel. Considering that Bein Sports costs 15 euros per month, to follow Ligue 1 in France people will have to pay 29.99 euros per month in all; The European cups broadcasts them ligue 1 will manage television canal+.

(Xavier Laine/Getty Images)

Canal+ is the historic broadcaster of the French championship: it has transmitted it, often in co-excluding with other networks or platforms, from 1984 to 2024, with a brief interruption in 2020. That year the LFP decided to accept an exceptional offer of Mediapro. a large Spanish audiovisual group (Chinese property from 2018), willing to pay a billion euros and 150 million euros per year, 60 percent more than the previous four years. Mediapro created the channel Telefoot For the transmission of matches in August 2020. but already in December he was no longer able to pay for the promised money.

He retired from the agreement after paying only 173 million euros, plus 100 million compensation to the LFP. ligue 1 will manage television The League then resumed his rights and. a few months later, he managed to sell them to Canal+, who agreed to return. Compared to the billion. 150 million expected, the LFP still removed over 400 million euros, with very negative consequences for clubs already in economic difficulty due to pandemic. The next summer was a new call. Ligue 1 assigned most of the games to the Amazon Prime Video platform, an operation defined by the journalist of RMC Sport Loic Biriley “the second slap that Canal+ took from the League”. Canal+ however remained involved with the transmission of two games, but the relationships with the LFP spoiled. Overall. the League sold the rights for the three -year period to 624 million euros (in the same period Dazn and Sky paid 910 million euros the rights to transmit Serie A in Italy).

The last announcement. last summer, was originally five years ligue 1 will manage television and had been even more problematic: a month before the start of the championship, offers had not yet arrived sufficient by the LFP (Amazon had not really made it). In the end Dazn showed up, who had paid 400 million for 8 games. In the contract between Dazn. the League, however, there was a clause, according to which Dazn could have been withdrawn in advance from the contract if he had not reached the million and a half subscribers by December 1, 2025. Having just arrived at 500 thousand subscribers. and accusing the LFP of not having contributed enough to “sell the product”, last spring Dazn asked to activate the clause in advance. In the end he agreed with the League. paid 85 million to leave the contract after only one season (compared to the five expected).

A Canal+ transmission before Lille-Psg of 2015 (Jean Catuffo/Getty Images)

The context of these continuous discounted negotiations and the escape of the broadcasters is that of a general difficulty of the national championships (excluding Premier League) and in particular of the French championship, which is not so interesting to follow because it is very unbalanced. The Paris Saint-Germain. which this year also won the Champions League, won 11 of the last 13 Ligue 1, the last with 19 points ahead of the second classified. It has a financial. talent availability clearly higher than all the other teams, often forced to sell their best young people abroad (which are many, in Ligue 1) to put the accounts in place.

Now the LFP will try as a last attempt to grow thanks to its channels. ligue 1 will manage television The plan is quite ambitious and plans to reach at the end of the next season at at least 1.1 million subscribers, also focusing on the initial price low and thus gaining around 151 million euros. For 2026-2027. when the matches are all 9 (the agreement with Bein Sports will end), in the plans of the LFP the turnover of the platform should reach 320 million euros, reaching the million and a half subscribers. For 2028-2029 the LFP plans to have 2.1 million subscribers to the platform, from which to earn 470 million euros.

Meanwhile, for this season he can count on the 78.5 million that Bein Sports pays for the ninth game (plus another 40 to broadcast Ligue 2). on the 85 million euros of the compensation of DAZN. In all, therefore, if the forecasts are correct, the LFP will gain from television rights to France 354.5 million euros. ligue 1 will manage television to which, however, they will be removed, he writes The team, About 66 million for the costs of the new platform on which the League will transmit the matches (inside there are the costs for the shooting of the matches, for the production of editorial content, for marketing and for the platform itself).

For this reason. the League is dealing with the various broadcasters (televisions, platforms, internet providers) to sell them the distribution of its content in a non -exclusive way: in practice Dazn, Amazon or those who could pay the LFP to transmit the channels of the League (obviously with figures clearly lower than those they paid for the rights). According to what the president of the Lega de Tavernost said. for the moment there is no Canal+ among the subjects who are dealing with the distribution.