Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The French football league has agreed a last-minute broadcast deal for the upcoming season, staving off a looming financial crisis at some clubs but locking in a far lower price than initially hoped.
Sports streamer DAZN will pay €400mn a year for the rights to show the majority of Ligue 1 matches, while Qatar-owned beIN will spend €100mn for one game a week, according to two people familiar with the situation. BeIN is paying more per game because its package includes the most sought-after fixtures. The deal will run for five years, although a potential break clause after two or three years is still being discussed, the people said.
By signing off on a deal less than six weeks before the start of the season, French clubs have avoided a potentially catastrophic financial crunch. Most teams rely on domestic TV money for the bulk of their revenue. Without a broadcast deal, some had been unable to access bank financing.
However, the €500mn is well below the €1bn originally targeted by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, and down from the €582mn received during the previous deal.
The new agreement also marks the lowest amount paid for the top flight of French football rights in 20 years. Unlike in previous years, future revenue will also be shared with CVC Capital Partners, the private equity firm that paid €1.5bn for a 13 per cent stake in a new entity that controls LFP’s commercial income.
The LFP’s efforts to sell its rights were complicated by a long-running battle with Canal+, once its long-term broadcast partner, after the league previously sold its rights to other companies over the French group.
However, the drop in the value of French football’s media rights is the latest sign of declining willingness among broadcasters to fork out big sums for live sport. Serie A, the Italian league, also renewed its TV contracts at reduced rates, while the headline price for the Premier League’s new deal increased just 4 per cent despite a 35 per cent increase in the number of games on offer.
French clubs had discussed launching their own TV channel instead of taking the offer from DAZN and beIN, but such a move would have offered no guaranteed revenue while the set-up costs would have been prohibitive for some clubs. The push by league officials to secure a break clause in the five-year contract was in part to allow clubs the option of continuing work on the channel, according to one person familiar with the talks, although there is no certainty that this will be agreed with the broadcasters.
John Textor, the US owner of Olympique Lyonnais, was critical of the outcome, saying in a statement that “signing a long-term deal with legacy delivery models is looking to the past, when we should be looking to the future”.
DAZN and beIN declined to comment. LFP has been contacted for comment.
