A discretion that speaks volumes.
In recent weeks, the darker the future of Mediapro, the more the Canal + bosses were walled up in deafening silence.
This Friday, Maxime Saada, the CEO of the encrypted channel, and his shareholder Vincent Bolloré were careful not to respond to the numerous requests from journalists after the announcement of the shutdown of the Téléfoot channel.
However, since the beginning of the week, they have been spending their days on the phone with a single topic of conversation: the cathodic future of Ligue 1. The underground negotiations are intense.
French football as well as the small media world have understood that the Breton businessman holds the keys to ending the crisis.
“It's Vincent Bolloré who has his hand and he's going to go, that's for sure!
», Assures a great connoisseur of television, on condition of anonymity.
“Canal cannot give up French football because that would be against its interests.
It broadcasts two matches per day of the championship.
If Ligue 1 collapses, it's very bad for them.
Football remains its most attractive product ”, estimates our interlocutor.
"Vincent Bolloré is a formidable negotiator so he will do a little blackmail"
As for the League, it has no other alternative than to do business with the encrypted channel.
Because buyers are not jostling at the gate.
For free channels, Ligue 1 is inaccessible.
The French Championship costs one billion euros per year, which is equivalent to the budget of the TF 1 group for all the programs of its channels!
Football can only be of interest to pay channels or subscription platforms.
“We consider that around 3.5 million French people are ready to subscribe to a football channel.
Sport is not part of Netflix's strategy.
The French clubs have hope in Amazon, which has bought Bundesliga games in Germany.
But I think it's too early, ”adds this observer for whom it is Canal who is the master of the game.
“Vincent Bolloré is a formidable negotiator so he will do a little blackmail.
He will take advantage of the situation to set his conditions.
There are three and a half years of rights left.
He can agree to pay a little expensive the first year, to get out of the deadlock, and lower the price for the following seasons, ”concludes our interlocutor.
According to L'Equipe, Canal + could put on the table 590 million euros per season (with a bonus of 100 million in the event of an increase in its subscriptions), when Mediapro promised 830 million.
Towards an alliance with beIN Sports?
The negotiations will be all the tighter as Canal is not in a position to write a blank check, so much in recent months the channel has heated its bank card.
“To keep face after the passage of Ligue 1 on Mediapro, they have invested a lot.
They bought Ligue 1 matches from beIN Sports for 330 million.
They then spent a lot of money to have the Champions League from the next school year.
Ditto for English football and the Rugby Top 14… And concluded costly distribution agreements with Netflix, Disney + and also beIN Sports, ”recalls another renowned sports rights professional.
Canal now distributes its Qatari rival exclusively for at least 200 million annually.
“They don't have much cash anymore, so Canal can't go there alone.
Plus, she doesn't need 100% of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. They want the big Sunday night poster, or even the 5pm Saturday poster.
But not those on Sunday afternoon.
We can bet that Bolloré will ask beIN to enter the game so that they strengthen a grid that has become weak.
He can also resell the co-broadcasting of the Champions League to RMC Sport, ”suggests a figure from a competing channel.
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The resumption of Ligue 1 also depends on these parallel discussions between Canal + and its competitors.
A situation that makes you smile when you remember that the encrypted channel was in very bad shape two years ago when Mediapro landed by surprise in France.
“Canal has joined forces with beIN.
RMC Sport will shut down in a year or two.
Mediapro is out.
Now, Canal is in a virtual monopoly situation and only has to bend down to pick it up, ”quips a former leader of the group.
