The French soccer league body, LFP, is facing challenges in selling domestic rights for its top two divisions ahead of the new season. The organization has re-issued its domestic media rights tender for the second-tier men's Ligue 2 matches and is considering a direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel to broadcast games.
The initial tender process for both leagues was postponed last October after reserve prices were not met. The reserve prices stood at €26 million ($27.9 million) and €14 million respectively for the two main second-tier Ligue 2 rights packages.
Despite extending contract lengths from four to five years with government permission, the reserve price for top-flight league, Ligue 1 was also not met. This led to an extension of the tender process and direct negotiations on domestic rights – but no deal has been reached yet with only two months left until the start of the new season.
High hopes for increased bids for Ligue 2
LFP had hoped that extending contracts to five years would attract higher bids than their high reserve prices - €530 million and €270 million per season respectively - for live broadcasting of Ligue 1 matches. If these prices were achieved, they would have increased incrementally by €10 million per season (main package) and by €5 million (second package).
Additionally, a price tag of €28 million per season was set on five magazine-style programs across both divisions. In total, this could have brought in over €840m per season from most domestic rights across both leagues starting from 2024-25. However, none of these lots met their respective reserve prices indicating a significant difference in valuation between prospective rightsholders and the league body.
In light of these challenges, LFP is considering creating its own DTC channel to avoid a media blackout at the start of the next season. This is one of several options being explored as struggles to sell domestic rights continue. Another option could be returning to negotiations with broadcasters such as BeIN, Canal Plus, Amazon, and DAZN and significantly lowering demands.
Departure of Mbappe, Messi and Neymar impacting negotiating position
The confirmed departure of Kylian Mbappe from league champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to Champion League winner Real Madrid last week is likely to further diminish the value of rights and weaken the league's negotiating position. This comes after marquee players like Lionel Messi and Neymar also left PSG last year.
Clubs are now pressuring LFP as broadcast revenue forms a significant part of their income. Some clubs are unable to proceed with summer transfer plans due to uncertainty surrounding media rights.
For the previous cycle, Amazon paid €250 million per year for eight matches per week through Prime Video streaming service while Canal Plus paid €332 million annually for two matches. Telecoms firm Free held near-live rights for all 10 matches at €42 million but this package has been scrapped in favor of other Ligue 1 options for the next cycle.
This marks LFP’s first broadcast rights sales process since partnering with private equity group CVC Capital Partners last year which acquired a 13% stake worth €1.5 billion in an LFP subsidiary - LFP Media – that markets TV and online broadcast rights for Ligue 1.
