World champion and without a diffuser!
This is a paradoxical situation to say the least.
Shared by the TF1 and M6 channels until the end of March 2022, the TV rights of the French football team have still not officially found a buyer while the Blues will perform again from June 3 against Denmark, or in less than a month.
According to our information, an agreement is, however, about to be finalized for the next six League of Nations meetings in June (4), then in September (2).
As since September 2018, TF1 and M 6 will again distribute them equally.
Good news for the FFF?
Not necessarily: these six meetings counting for a competition in which the French team is the defending champion would have been paid for below the current contract (€3.5 million per match).
Read also League of Nations: the Blues opposed to Denmark, Croatia and Austria
In reality, the Federation and the channels have prepared for the most urgent until the World Cup in Qatar (November 21 - December 18), which TF1 will broadcast on its antenna, as will BeIN (the Qatari channel broadcasts all the matches ).
For the rest, we swim in full blur.
And not just for the Blues.
The rights to the Coupe de France, the other main loss leader of the FFF, are about to expire and have still not found a taker either.
As often in such circumstances, Noël Le Graët, the president of the FFF, will undoubtedly have to personally manage the negotiations with the chains to break the impasse.
This was already the case during the previous call for tenders for the Coupe de France, where in the end, he managed to obtain a higher amount.
The stakes are high for the FFF.
In its 2020-2021 budget, TV rights royalties reached €67 million, i.e. more than a quarter of total revenue (€249 million).
Prices pulled down
If the Federation deals directly with the rights of the Coupe de France, it had to deal, until last fall, with UEFA, which centralizes the rights of the national selections, via the marketing agency CAA Eleven.
The call for tenders for the matches of the reigning world champions over the period 2022-2028 (excluding the World Cup and Euro) had been declared unsuccessful, which is not the case for the overwhelming majority of other teams. , who have found a broadcaster, sometimes under conditions superior to those of the French team.
TF1 and M6 had offered 2.4 million euros per match, or 1.1 million less than the amount in force until last March.
And more than half that of 2008 (€5m).
Over-the-counter negotiations (directly between the interlocutors concerned) have been initiated.
The Federation hopes to reach an amount at least equal to that of the past cycle, even if it means redrawing the lots or shortening the period put on sale initially (until 2026?).
The calendar is not conducive to overbidding: TF1 and M 6 are engaged in a capital-intensive merger procedure by 2023 which blurs the future of the two groups and de facto pulls prices down.
As a reminder, French law means that the matches of the selection must be given in clear even if a paid co-broadcaster remains possible as long as a free player broadcasts all the matches.
