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Ligue 1 TV rights: "On the French market, Canal + is alone ..."

2020-12-22T16:46:50.179Z


Pierre Maes, author of the book “The Business of Football TV Rights”, analyzes the solutions available to the LFP after it has received


The Belgian expert in sports television rights insists on the urgency for the Professional Football League (LFP) to quickly find a new solvent broadcaster for Ligue 1, undermined by the defection of Mediapro.

Faced with the situation, almost all leads lead to Canal +.

According to you, will the LFP negotiate directly with a possible buyer or will it organize a new call for tenders?

PIERRE MAES.

What motivates the LFP is the urgency.

If it can do without a tender, as it appears to be, it will.

A call for tenders takes time.

It can establish the documents in 48 hours, circulate the documents by requesting a response within 15 days.

But that is not optimal for a call for tenders.

Is Canal + alone in ambush and in a position of strength?

In the French market, Canal + is alone.

As much we were in a hyper competitive situation a few years ago with a unique situation in Europe, namely four operators to fight for the rights of football;

so much today, Canal has cleaned up very efficiently.

Mediapro, we know ... RMC Sport, it's over and BeIN, which has an agreement with Canal, is not going to have fun making an offer against Canal.

Consequently, Canal is in a duopoly situation with BeIN, but it is almost a monopoly.

No offer can come from abroad?

We quote Amazon and Dazn (

Editor's note: sports streaming service

).

But I think if they come, which is far from certain, they won't be interested in the main lots but in small packages.

Small things that allow you to position yourself but don't cost a lot.

The Commercial Court of Nanterre approved this Tuesday, December 22 the conciliation protocol between the LFP and Mediapro Sport France in the presence of Maître Marc Sénéchal, conciliator appointed since October 19, 2020.



📝 Press release ➡️ https://t.co/oVXCfpgUZw pic.twitter.com/sE7ls85tWB

- Professional Football League (@LFPfr) December 22, 2020

And a “Canal-Amazon” ticket, is that possible?

It could, but bringing in newcomers will take time.

I think the LFP will pursue the objective of a deal with Canal, which will certainly put matches on BeIN so that there are several broadcasters.

This is how the emergency will be resolved.

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And only give up the rest of the season to put everything back together for the following seasons?

The LFP will not even consider this option.

She will offer Canal an agreement until 2024, so as to negotiate an advance over the following seasons, fundamental in order to deliver cash to the clubs.

For its part, Canal will take advantage of its strong position to correct the market downwards, which had soared with the arrival of competitors.

The prices in France today are above ground, whether it is the Ligue 1, the Champions League or the Premier League.

Canal will take the opportunity to renegotiate downward the package purchased from BeIN, much too expensive according to them (

Editor's note: 330 million euros for two matches per week

).

What is interesting is that Canal seems to want to introduce the notion of risk sharing.

That is to say that they offer a fixed amount (

Editor's note: 590 million euros

) and an amount payable only if they manage to recruit additional subscribers thanks to the agreement with the LFP (

Editor's note: 100 million euros

).

Which is very clever on the part of Canal since they are convinced that they already have plenty of subscribers.

Do you think the amounts circulating, around 600 million euros per year, are realistic?

Yes, but it is to be considered as a maximum.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2020-12-22

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