The part surrounding the future of French football has just entered a decisive phase. Will the French clubs manage to obtain the billion euros hoped for, including 800 million for domestic TV rights for Ligue 1 alone for the period 2024-2029? On Monday, all candidates interested in acquiring matches from the French football championship had to come forward with a view to participating in the auction. In principle, they each submitted a qualitative offer, detailing their commitments in terms of operation, editorial treatment, communication, promotion and the fight against piracy. A document accompanied by a financial guarantee system. After the Mediapro episode, which did not honor its payments, the League wants to avoid finding itself having to manage another fiasco. Scalded cat…
Vincent Labrune, the president of the LFP, and his close guard had to go through the candidates’ files in order to give them authorization or not to participate in the auction, on all or part of the lots. At this time, the League has given no indication regarding the number of candidates in the running. At the end of September, RMC Sports assured that eight companies had expressed their interest to the LFP for the broadcast of matches from the French football championship. But that does not mean that they ultimately submitted an offer.
Who will show up to the starting line tomorrow to bid? Bein Sports ? In September, during the presentation of its new schedule, the Qatari channel indicated that it would study the League’s call for tenders, while warning that it was not ready to break the bank. Although it still offers two Ligue 2 matches, it has already been three years since it broadcast any Ligue 1 matches, since it sub-licensed its share to Canal. Amazon? The e-commerce giant does not want to comment on the current call for tenders. It is today the main broadcaster of the French championship, broadcasting 80% of the matches. After the failure of Mediapro, he bought them from the scrapyard, for 250 million euros. There would be a certain logic to seeing him continue the adventure. Despite its deep pockets, however, Amazon has always made wise use of its funds. Dazn? The sports streaming platform makes no secret of its intention to participate, in order to expand its portfolio of European competitions, which already includes most of the Italian championship, Bundesliga matches in Germany, La Liga in Spain . But provided that the economic model is viable. However, the starting stakes set by the LFP are high: 530 million euros for three matches per day, including the first two games, and 270 million euros for the other six matches. AppleTV? Nothing confirms or denies it. The only certainty is that Canal will not go: the Vivendi subsidiary has not filed a file. If some thought that the encrypted channel, despite its declarations, was going to act as a last-minute surprise guest, it was a failure.
French football is therefore holding its breath. On Tuesday morning, either the call for tenders will be successful or the auction process will be declared unsuccessful if the reserve prices are not reached. In this case, the Football League will have to play overtime during over-the-counter negotiations.
