LFrench professional football is saved, at the very least from an internal war. The general assembly of the Professional Football League (LFP) once again validated, by a large majority, the agreement concluded with the Luxembourg fund CVC Capital Partners, which Le Havre Athletic Club contested. The HAC rightly considered itself aggrieved by a “legal unthinking” of the distribution of the providential billion and a half euros paid to clubs by this fund.
The episode, however, calls into question the agreement well beyond this dispute, its long-term viability being questioned with concern. It was even less so, in April 2022, as French clubs were then put at bay by the crisis due to Covid-19 and especially by the default of the broadcaster Mediapro in the fall of 2020.
With broadcasting rights reduced from 1.153 billion euros to 700 million, they welcomed this windfall as a lifeline, without necessarily analyzing the conditions or its scope. In exchange, CVC acquired 13% of the new commercial company – LFP Média – created jointly with the League (thanks to a legislative provision adopted in haste) and will receive the same percentage of professional football revenues, without time limit.
Guaranteed annuity
Can we sail far on a lifeline? Initial questions resulted from the observation that the same fund signed a more advantageous contract with the Spanish Liga, although it excluded FC Barcelona and Real Madrid: 8% of revenues for fifty years compared to two billion euros. ‘euros.
The Italian Serie A has given up on concluding a similar agreement with CVC in 2022. In May, German professional football refused the proposal for another fund (2 billion euros against 12.5% of revenue for twenty years), believing that this would jeopardize resources, would force accountability to this lessor rather than to the public, and would lead to an increase in the price of tickets and subscriptions to broadcasters.
In addition to the heavy drain on income, provisions revealed by The Team grant CVC significant oversight and veto rights, and protect it from various hazards: drop in broadcasting rights, financial results worse than expected and even a possible departure from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in a closed league.
Guaranteed annuity for CVC, uncertainty for the clubs: they have mortgaged their future for a hypothetical profit. The investor must certainly contribute to the valorization of Ligue 1 and its rights (it is in his interest), but we can be concerned about the strategic prerogatives entrusted to him and will allow him, to optimize his investment, to favor the big clubs.
You have 45% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.