Change in sight at the head of L’Équipe. Laurent Prud’homme, the current general director of the media group, is preparing to leave his post. The manager, aged 49, resigned this week to join Olympique Lyonnais (OL). He had been in discussions for several weeks with the owner and president of the league 1 football club, John Textor. And he finally accepted his proposal to become the new CEO of OL.
“Laurent Prud’homme was chosen by Textor because of his knowledge of the main players in French sport, starting with the leaders of the French Football Federation and the Professional Football League. He also has a history with Lyon, the city where part of his family is from and where he completed his studies,” indicates the newspaper L’Équipe. TV man and specialist in sports rights, worked for Canal, TF1, Eurosport and Discovery France, of which he was the general director, Laurent Prud’homme is leaving after three years at the head of the largest French sports media. Under his leadership, L’Équipe has notably strengthened its digital presence. The group has also developed the audiovisual production company 21 Production, which notably produces Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 broadcasts for Amazon.
This change of direction comes a few months after the departure, last June, of Jérôme Cazadieux, the editorial director of the sports daily, who joined the commercial subsidiary of the Professional Football League.
In the immediate future, Aurore Amaury, the president of the L’Équipe group, will take over in the interim until a new general manager is appointed. She will be responsible for managing all brand media for L’Équipe, France Football, Vélo Magazine, as well as the organization of events such as the “Ballon d’or”, the “Vélo d’or”, “Demain the sport “. She will also be responsible for the company’s diversification strategy, the company said in a press release. “She will hold this position in parallel with her functions as co-general manager of the Amaury Group alongside her brother Jean-Étienne Amaury,” specifies the document.
Lawyer at the Paris Bar, holder of a DEA in business law, Aurore Amaury began her career in 1999 as a lawyer. She joined the family group in 2006, as administrator and director of legal affairs. Then in 2016, she was entrusted with the media part of the group with L’Équipe, (newspaper, web and TV). His brother Jean-Étienne runs ASO, organizer of nearly 90 sporting events including the famous Tour de France and the Dakar.
In May 2020, Marie-Odile Amaury’s two children took over the reins of the family group founded by their grandfather Émilien Amaury in 1944, then managed by their father, Philippe Amaury until his death in 2006. This is the third generation to preside over the destiny of the family business.