Qhen an adventurous plan B, first conceived as a bluff, becomes plan A, plan C has a good chance of winning. Two months before its resumption, on August 16, Ligue 1 football has plans, but still no broadcaster.
Since the failure of the call for tenders for the 2024-2025 cycle, in the fall of 2023, the over-the-counter negotiations have been deadlocked, and the annual billion euros hoped for in October is more chimerical than Never.
For the moment, despite the interventions of the Elysée with the leaders of the Qatari state, plan A of a 100% Ligue 1 channel on BeIN Sports has not materialized. The good will of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, president of Paris Saint-Germain and the BeIN Media group (this is not the time to talk about conflicts of interest), remains ineffective against the ill will of Canal+.
An untenable bet
In order for the investment to be viable for BeIN Sports, even at the more modest amounts now targeted (between 600 and 700 million euros), it must renegotiate its exclusive distribution contract through Canal+ upwards. What the Vivendi group channel, in a position of strength, still refuses, making the Professional Football League (LFP) pay for having preferred Mediapro then Amazon during the previous cycle.
Plan B consists of setting up a chain “house” broadcasting the entire competition, offered to all Internet service providers, at a rate of 25 euros monthly for its future subscribers.
These 25 euros made most sports rights specialists jump. This high price would have to be multiplied by around 2.5 million subscribers to reach the expected amount of rights. In reality, this multiplication would deliver the true value of Ligue 1: neither 700 million euros nor 25 euros per month.
Even putting aside the logistical difficulties of such an operation at such short notice, the bet seems untenable. Paid offers abound in this market and, in the post-Covid situation, broadcasting rights have stagnated or fallen in Europe. Added to this is the reduced purchasing power of consumers and the temptation of piracy.
The question is how much Ligue 1 is worth, and the answer looks cruel. To prevent the failed bluff from becoming a disastrous program, Vincent Labrune, president of the LFP, would have decided on plan C, according to The Team : 500 million euros annually, to which would be added international rights, estimated at around 160 million.
You have 45.22% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.