The French top-tier soccer league, Ligue 1, has recently launched its over-the-top channel, Ligue 1+. This move was formally announced by the French league soccer's governing body, the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionnel), earlier this month. In a significant development, Amaury Media advertising sales agency has secured exclusive rights to market advertising slots on this new platform.
As part of the deal with the French top-tier soccer league, Amaury Media will serve as the sole marketing partner for advertising slots on Ligue 1+. This means that it will be responsible for managing all advertising offers and sponsorship options. The terms and conditions related to these opportunities are expected to be released in due course.
What does Ligue 1+ offer?
Ligue 1+ is set to broadcast eight out of nine live games each matchday. The ninth game will be aired on a delayed basis. Telecom giants such as Boygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR have all agreed to carry this channel along with DAZN streaming service.
In addition to the regular matches, Ligue 1+ will also broadcast several special events. These include the season-opening Trophee des Champions super cup competition and the season-ending promotion/relegation playoffs. Furthermore, all matches that are scheduled during the final two weeks of the Ligue 1 season will be shown live on this platform. International sports broadcaster BeIN Sports will show one match live while delayed coverage can be accessed via Ligue 1+.
Subscriptions are available at an initial price of €14.99 ($17.66) per month which is significantly lower than what DAZN charged last season as primary domestic rightsholder. However, there's good news for fans - champions Paris Saint-Germain’s game against FC Nantes scheduled for August 17 will be broadcast free-to-air for all.
Funding and future plans
The channel’s startup has been funded by payments from DAZN and BeIN, with a total fund of around €165 million. Of this, €66 million is allocated to cover the costs of the channel, with €33 million to €35 million already spent on production costs.
Following the collapse of its broadcast partnership with DAZN, LFP has decided to move forward with an in-house Ligue 1 linear TV channel as the primary distributor of competition’s main rights package. This means that post-2026-27 season (after the end of BeIN-LFP deal), it's likely that every Ligue 1 match will be shown on this new channel.
Apart from live and delayed game broadcasts, Ligue 1+ plans to host magazine content produced by Mediawan along with documentary series and other ancillary programming. Amaury Media is not new to marketing advertising slots for soccer channels. It was appointed in June 2020 as a partner for Téléfoot - a Mediapro-owned channel which briefly covered top-tier soccer in France before its rights deal descended into chaos due to missed payments among other issues.
Amaury Media's exclusive partnership with Ligue 1+ promises exciting times ahead for sports fans and sports betting fans alike. With affordable subscriptions and diverse content offerings including live games, documentaries, magazine content etc., it aims at providing an enriching experience while keeping much of Ligue 1 financially viable.
