“Sunday afternoon matches are looking for broadcasters.
Not serious refrain.
We are not yet at the stage of the classified ad placed in the corner of the newspaper.
But the question is seriously starting to nag the decision-makers of French football: will they find themselves without a broadcaster for the majority of Ligue 1 matches and for all of Ligue 2?
A file on which the Professional Football League (LFP) is working while the agreement made in February with Canal + to compensate for the withdrawal of Mediapro will not extend beyond May 30, date of the first division return barrage.
We summarize the situation: the encrypted channel, which has recovered during the season all the broadcasting rights of Ligue 1 against an extension of 38 million euros, does not want to hear about the soft-bellied matches for the next years. The group led by Vincent Bolloré is already required to pay the LFP 332 million euros per year until 2024 for lot number 3, which includes the meeting currently broadcast on Saturday at 1 p.m. and that on Sunday at 5 p.m. Blocked by this agreement, which it continues to challenge in court after losing in the first instance in March, the channel does not want to increase its bill with the rights of the eight remaining elite meetings. And just want to focus on the main Sunday night posters, the famous premium content.
"With these matches, you only recruit supporters of the clubs concerned"
“There is a structural problem of attractiveness for Ligue 1, explained to Figaro in January the president of the management board of Canal +, Maxime Saada.
It is no coincidence that we have acquired the PSG-OM
(Editor's note: the Champions Trophy)
.
This is the type of match that attracts our subscribers.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of all the posters.
The channel has also made it clear that it is campaigning for a Ligue 1 with 18 clubs, a track that the leaders of French football are ready to set up from 2022.
“The positioning of Canal + is not surprising.
It was more surprising to see them recover all the rights this winter, judge the specialist of the sector Pierre Maes, author of "Business of TV rights of football
,
investigation into an explosive bubble" (FYP editions).
They are not interested in volume, but rather in quality.
With these matches, you only recruit supporters of the clubs concerned.
You just add up niches, so you attract fewer people.
"
To read also TV rights of football: Canal +, the underside of a total and implacable revenge
“We do not discover today that Montpellier, Angers or Nice attracts less viewers than PSG, OM or Lyon, slips the Hérault president Laurent Nicollin.
Now, I hope that we will find a broadcaster and visibility for all the matches of our championship.
For the moment, the file is not moving forward.
British streaming platform DAZN, which competed in the LFP's last call for tenders, is up for grabs the potentially vacant seven matches per day.
But this new player has set a prerequisite: first to find a distribution agreement with Canal +.
A possibility so far ruled out by the historic broadcaster of Ligue 1.
Canal + talks with BeIN Sports
Main actor to whom all eyes are turned: BeIN Sports. But the Qatari group, which will recover part of the rights to the Champions League from next season, is in no hurry. In early 2020, he signed an exclusive distribution agreement for five years with Canal + which brings him an estimated annual amount of 250 million euros. Not enough to encourage him to take out money for matches that will not bring him many additional subscribers. According to our information, discussions exist between Canal + and BeIN Sports, but are dragging on.
"If nobody wants these matches, why not launch our own distribution platform", wonders a president of Ligue 1. An idea shared by several of his counterparts, but considered too expensive by the LFP and its president Vincent Labrune in the current state of their finances. French football is now waiting for things to settle between Canal and BeIN Sports. But for what sum? “We can estimate that Ligue 1 is now valued at around 600 million euros, explains Pierre Maes. In this case, we will surely not be above 100 million with this lot. "
