"Instead of having a Ferrari, a player would have had a Maserati": the boss of Mediapro pleaded for his good faith in the Assembly

In front of the parliamentary mission "TV rights and sports economic model", led by the deputies Cédric Roussel (LREM) and Régis Juanico (Génération.s), the boss of Mediapro gave his version of the failure of his group.

The latter had acquired 80% of the rights to Ligue 1 for nearly € 800 million annually over the period 2020-2024 and launched the Téléfoot channel, before going out of business last December, claiming difficulties linked to the health crisis. .

"We did not throw in the towel, we could not negotiate with the League, explained in particular the Catalan businessman, who had expressed at the beginning of October his desire to renegotiate downward the contract which linked Mediapro to the League. This is what you do not take into account. Everyone was able to negotiate with the Leagues all over the world at that time, except us with the LFP. When we sat down, we asked for a rebate of € 200 million: 7 million per L1 club and 3 million per L2 club. This means that a player, instead of having a Ferrari, would have had a Maserati ... "

"We didn't throw in the towel, we couldn't negotiate."

Heard about the TV rights fiasco, Mediapro president Jaume Roures blames @LFPfr.

>> https://t.co/HDFaMFLZM3 (by @Ariel_Guez) #Football #Mediapro #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/s0Huekb76n

- LCP (@LCP) September 16, 2021

Roures also specified that his project had been, according to him, the object of a cabal. “We were prevented from negotiating when we made proposals, such as extending the contract to 6 years, including Canal + ... And the 200 million, it was only during the Covid period. But that was not possible and we went to conciliation (Editor's note: Mediapro placed itself under the protection of the Nanterre commercial court). This was not possible because of the media atmosphere around us and also because there was a parallel offer from Canal, according to L'Équipe ... It was not possible to negotiate, otherwise we would be there. Our degraded offer of € 200 million was around € 600 million per season and this was finally sold for € 259 million to Amazon. "

The Mediapro boss also lambasted the conduct of Canal +: “Look at Canal's attitude towards the League after our departure. It was unbearable pressure with phantom offers before tightening the knot for the best price. And that ended up with € 250m per season for Amazon. And what was Canal's reaction at that time? That of a spoiled child: "I'm angry and I let go of football ..." A few months earlier, they had recovered a third of our matches for € 35 million. It's incredible ! And then they went to court with the League. If the LFP chose Amazon, it is not only for financial solidity but also to be able to exist and not be subject all the time to the whims of Canal. ”