Straight into the wall. Ligue 1 still does not have a broadcaster, almost a month before the resumption of the championship. Several clubs have however warned of potential bankruptcies in the event of failure or TV rights granted at too low a price. And as nothing is going well, Canal+, through its boss Maxime Saada, has just confirmed that the historic broadcaster of French football will not be its savior again...
Black out, or almost. Ligue 1 is already buried but is still digging. While the championship has lost all its international stars in two seasons, the spectacle on offer is not encouraging and the clubs are struggling in the European Cup, the Professional Football League (LFP) has arrived. still unable to find any broadcaster at an attractive price for everyone's financial balance.
Just over a month before the resumption of the French Ligue 1 championship, it's a total crisis. Especially since the last two credible solutions considered are not miraculous. If the operator's offer of on-demand content DAZN were to be accepted (€375M), the deal would not even allow football clubs to earn as much money as during the previous call for tenders. Which already wasn't great. The fault is the (announced) bankruptcy of Mediapro then CVC, this Luxembourg investment fund, which came as a savior in 2022, but which must now logically recover its marbles little by little.
If the League finally opted urgently for the launch of a 100% L1 chain created by the League itself, this would also be a guaranteed fiasco. The minimum number of subscribers to be at potential profitability would never be reached for years. The clubs would not benefit from their usual income and more than half of the L1 would go under. Under these conditions, the historic French football broadcaster, Canal+, appeared to be a magnificent savior. With a great story to tell.
The problem, is that Canal+ has just paid the hefty bill for Formula 30 rights on June 1 and must also manage the TV rights for motorcycle GP, the football Champions League or the Top14 in rugby. Much less crazy sums than football, certainly, for much less audience, too. But these amounts add up. And Ligue 1 does not seem to be of great benefit price quality.
Heard this Monday morning by the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM), Maxime Saada confirmed the bad news for football fans in France: “ Unfortunately, the situation is not a surprise to us, we are often accused of being angry, resentful or bitter, I can understand why, but the subject is essentially economic. Canal+ tried against Mediapro then against Amazon then with DAZN a few months ago to return to the Ligue 1 competition game. The LFP did not want this and Canal+ had no other choice than to allocate its resources, which remain relatively rare, to other competitions, in particular the Champions League. So today we no longer have the means to intervene in this matter. ". Clear explanations or yet another bluff? Little is believed in it.
Except that Canal+ is indirectly linked to Ligue 1. Without a strong L1, no interesting journey for French clubs in the Champions League or Europa League. And therefore, less audience. " NOTWe hope that it will find a positive outcome for French football because we remain very invested, particularly in the Champions League, and we hope that French clubs will be able to prosper there. “, explains Maxime Saada.
While Paris-Saint Germain has just lost Kylian Mbappé and finally, the star of their squad is today called Luis Enrique, the coach, what will French viewers want to watch to thrill? Another coach? Roberto De Zerbi, the Italian coach of OM, with his extraordinary salary for a club not qualified for the European Cup?
The attractiveness of the L1 currently remains low, hence the LFP headache. And finally, only a powerful OM, able to compete with PSG over time, can revive the attraction for this championship. Without this, French football heads into the void for several seasons in the dark. The next TV rights being distributed for the next five seasons.
