No more Ligue 1 Uber Eats, make way for Ligue 1 McDonald’s. The Professional Football League has succeeded in a very successful operation by signing a juicy naming contract for the next three seasons with the American fast food brand. This partnership should bring it 30 million euros per year, double the current agreement, according to a source close to the matter.
“The leading French restaurateur established in more than 1,150 municipalities, with two million meals served daily, McDonald’s is joining forces with the number one show in France,” McDonalds and the LFP said in a press release.
After Conforama and Uber Eats
While it is engaged in an indecisive and complicated negotiation for the audiovisual rights of Ligue 1 for the period 2024-2029, given the risk of a loss of attractiveness due to the planned departure of superstar Kylian Mbappé in the summer Next, the LFP and its president Vincent Labrune can be satisfied with this “deal”, formalized at the end of a League Board of Directors meeting on Thursday.
And this, even if the association with McDonald’s, symbol for some of junk food, could provoke criticism. “In the economic context that we know, this is a nice achievement by the LFP which is experiencing constant progress with the three ‘nameurs’ that it has chosen,” said Christophe Lepetit, sports economist.
The LFP inaugurated this new source of income with Conforama, then continued with the delivery company Uber Eats for 15 million euros per year the first year and 16 the following two. With McDonald’s and the 30 million euros annually that it will receive until 2027, according to a source close to the matter, the League is therefore doubling its income from one of the four resource levers at its disposal. The American company refused to confirm the amount paid to win the contract.
BeIn Sports in pole position for TV rights
In addition to the naming of Ligue 1, the LFP signed, last September, a record contract of 155 million euros over five years (31 million euros per year) with the sports marketing company Infront for betting rights live from L1, L2 and the Champions Trophy abroad over the next five seasons. The previous contract brought 11 million euros per year to the League.
It now remains for Vincent Labrune, at the forefront in all these negotiations, and his teams, to complete the two other levers, the most important, those of the broadcasting rights of the L1 for the period 2024-2029, in France and abroad . After an unsuccessful call for tenders, the LFP launched into over-the-counter discussions with the main market players and still hopes to obtain rights close to 900 million euros annually.
If the negotiations fluctuate quickly, the current trend would be an agreement with the Qatari channel BeIn Sports, which could recover all the broadcasting rights for Ligue 1 in France, according to a source close to the matter. A new development, Canal+, which did not participate in the initial call for tenders or in the over-the-counter negotiations, could return to the game and win a few matches through redistribution agreements, according to this same source.
McDonald’s, for its part, is already a partner of numerous multidisciplinary professional clubs and also financially supports many amateur competitions in France. It must soon launch its own home delivery service, without necessarily going through companies like Uber Eats, which it will therefore succeed as “namer” of Ligue 1.