The governance of French football by the Ligue de Football Professional (LFP) has come under severe criticism from Racing Club de Lens president, Joseph Oughourlian. In a recent interview with Le Parisien, Oughourlian expressed his disapproval of the league's TV deal with British broadcaster DAZN and attacked its long-term management of domestic and international broadcasting rights.
Oughourlian highlighted a significant issue in the current system - frequent changes in broadcasters over six years. He argued that this fragmentation is detrimental to their product and leads to a loss of customers - football fans who watch pay-TV.
Lens president, Joseph Oughourlian, said:
“There is a fundamental problem. You can’t keep changing broadcasters all the time for six years. You can’t keep fragmenting our product.”
This sentiment has been echoed in his regular opposition against PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and LFP president Vincent Labrune over TV rights issues.
Comparing DAZN mistake with Mediapro crisis
The Lens president went on to compare the current situation with DAZN to last year's crisis involving Spain-based Mediapro group. In 2020-2021 season, Mediapro launched its Téléfoot channel which only lasted until February 2021 due to economic troubles compounded by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“The DAZN mistake is worse than Mediapro,” said Oughourlian, implying that while mistakes were made during the Mediapro crisis, they were not repeated as they are now being done with DAZN.
Rising tensions over TV rights crisis
Recently, Ligue 1 presidents held another meeting last Friday discussing ongoing conflicts between LFP and its broadcaster DAZN regarding TV rights payments. Reports suggest that tensions have escalated due to this unresolved issue.
DAZN is reportedly withholding domestic TV rights payments citing a 'perceived lack of loyalty' from Ligue 1 clubs. The British-based media platform is also contemplating legal action against LFP. This has resulted in financial implications for the clubs, who were expecting to receive €57m in TV rights money on Friday but have only received beIN Sports’ minor share so far.
The ongoing crisis over TV rights and the conflict between French football league (LFP) and its broadcaster DAZN continues to create waves within French football. With tensions escalating, it remains to be seen how this issue will be resolved and what impact it will have on the future of broadcasting rights management in French football.
