Julien Pichené, with AFP
modified to
07:29, October 23, 2023
“None of the five lots” of Ligue 1 TV rights for the period 2024-2029 were allocated at auction on Tuesday, announced the Professional Football League (LFP), specifying that the “marketing process” would continue .
“None of the five lots” of Ligue 1 TV rights for the period 2024-2029 were allocated at auction on Tuesday, announced the Professional Football League (LFP), specifying that the “marketing process” would continue .
Amounts considered too high
“After having received several qualitative offers and financial guarantee schemes for all lots 1 to 5, LFP Media indicates that none of the five lots has been awarded today, in accordance with the provisions of the Ligue 1 call for applications “, writes the LFP in a press release. This had priced the first two lots, which concern the live broadcast of matches, at 800 million euros per season: 530 million euros for lot 1 containing the two most beautiful posters and choice N. 4 of each day, 270 million euros for lot 2 which includes the other six matches.
Amounts considered significant by several media and football observers, while the rights for the previous period only amounted to 624 million euros.
Canal+ could re-invite itself to the dance
Over-the-counter negotiations between the LFP and interested media will now begin, and could last several weeks. Among the potential candidates, Prime Video, beIN Sports, the sports streaming platform DAZN and even Apple. Canal+ could also re-invite itself to the dance, while the chairman of the board of the group Maxime Saada had warned the League that it would not participate in the auction at the end of September.
Their conditions “completely convinced us that your only objective was to exclude Canal+ and favor Amazon”, he wrote in the letter revealed by L’Equipe. “You have never stopped penalizing Canal+.”
These unsuccessful auctions are a first setback for the president of the LFP, Vincent Labrune. He said he hoped, this summer, to reach one billion euros in TV rights to be redistributed to professional clubs, including the sale of rights abroad – the call for tenders for which was launched on October 6.