DAZN, the sports streaming service, has secured a multi-year rights agreement for French soccer's top-tier Ligue 1 in Spain. This move comes despite the ongoing scrutiny of Ligue1+, the league's in-house direct-to-consumer service.
Starting with the crucial May 13 game between league leaders Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and second-placed Lens, DAZN will exclusively broadcast every game from the top-flight competition. Two matches each week will feature Spanish-language commentary. The agreement is set to run for three seasons through to the 2028-29 campaign.
Spanish representation in Ligue 1 includes prominent players like Fabian Ruiz of PSG and Monaco’s former Barcelona winger Ansu Fati among others.
Boost for DAZN's international portfolio
DAZN already holds media rights to several international markets including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan and Belgium. With this new deal, it now holds rights to all of Europe’s 'Big Five' leagues - English Premier League, French league 1, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and Spanish LaLiga - in Spain.
This is a significant development as it marks the first time since the 2017-18 campaign that all nine weekly fixtures of Ligue 1 will be available in Spain. Despite launching its own direct-to-consumer service (Ligue1+) at the beginning of season 2025-26 hosting eight out of nine weekly matchups; broadcast revenue disbursements for teams have seen a year-on-year decline.
The French publication, 'L’Equipe', reported that the total domestic rights income from Ligue1+ for the 2025-26 season was €170.1 million ($199.9 million). Although this figure surpassed projections, it still significantly trails behind the revenues of other Big 5 leagues. For instance, Italy’s Serie A generates a staggering €900 million per season from domestic rights alone. Furthermore, Spain’s LaLiga, Germany’s Bundesliga and England’s Premier League each rake in over €1 billion per season from their respective domestic rights.
Future of Ligue 1's financial health
Even with a predicted growth of 200,000 subscribers next season, LFP Media anticipates total revenues of €412.2 million in the 2026-27 campaign. After costs and deductions including a share to major investor CVC Capital Partners; only around €184.1 million will remain to be disbursed across clubs.
This financial situation could force most Ligue 1 clubs into cost-cutting measures which may further devalue the product for international audiences and maintain low media rights values.
Nicolas de Tavernost, outgoing chief of the LFP Media commercial arm cited piracy as a significant factor in these low outcomes stating that as much as €100 million each year is lost due to this practice. To match media rights income from even its recent disastrous cycles; Ligue1+ may need to triple or quadruple its current subscriber base or drastically increase its subscription price.
