DAZN and beIN Sports win the broadcast of the French football championship – Libération

2024-07-14 18:55:00

At the end of the board meeting of the Professional Football League Sunday July 14, the British platform, the new ogre of the sport, should broadcast 8 of the 9 games each day, between 30 and 40 euros per month.

Ligue 1 avoids a black screen on August 16 when the league starts. The British platform DAZN and the Qatari channel beIN Sports will broadcast the matches of the French football championship at least for the next two seasons and about 500 million euros annually, following the meeting of the football council professional league on Sunday July 14.

Regarding the cost of DAZN subscription for viewers, it can range from 30 to 40 euros per month, depending on RMC sports.

There are many details to be resolved before the formation of this agreement planned for the period 2024-2029, in particular the exit clause for DAZN and the Professional Football League in two years, in 2026. The division of matches between “Netflix sports”a new player in the French football ecosystem, and the Qatari channel must also be completed, even if DAZN should broadcast eight of the nine games and beIN will be the poster for each day.

Meeting as a college before the Board of Directors which sealed the agreement, the presidents of the Ligue 1 clubs, despite heated arguments according to a participant, launched the launch of a 100% L1 channel, made directly by the LFP, even together with the Max catalog from Warner Bros. Discovery.

“Netflix sports”

They consider the traditional media that guarantees an immediate financial collapse, the money collected and distributed to the parties through TV rights representing a third of their budget, which the option of the LFP channel, which is attractive, does not allow.

To convince them, the British platform, often described as “Netflix sports”revising up the amount of money that will be distributed to them at the beginning of the 2024 season instead of 300 million euros in the first year, with an increase to 500 million at the end of the contract in 2029, DAZN will have done it. pay 350 million thirteen to the club from the next season.

Disturbed by the DAZN-beIN option, the presidents of the Ligue 1 clubs were also traumatized by the Mediapro incident, the temporary TV rights holder whose separation at the end of 2020 caused the imminent suspension of French football.

The financial guarantees presented by DAZN and originally by the league have not fully convinced them. The platform tries to eliminate their concerns by presenting them with new solutions directly from its parent company, Access Companies.

With 500 million from this agreement on the national rights of Ligue 1, with 160 million received for international rights, with 40 million from the rights of Ligue 2, the league and the clubs receive a total of 700 million euros annually to be shared, with a few lots still to be sold, and emerging from endless negotiations with their heads high.

A high head, but a little sad however, much in any case from the billions of euros annually that Vincent Labrune, President of the LFP, hopes to receive for national rights, at the time of the call for tenders for the fall of 2023. To then he faced the exclusive rejection of Canal Plus, the historic broadcaster of French football, to participate in the sale of TV rights for Ligue 1.