Canal+ or Ligue 1 for 15 euros per month? There’s no more choice!
While Ligue 1 clubs are set to receive TV rights payments this week from the LFP (Professional Football League) that DAZN refused to pay, the idea of a channel dedicated solely to Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 is back on the table.
Last summer, during the height of the debate over Ligue 1 broadcasting rights, some club presidents had floated the idea of creating a channel run by the LFP. Vincent Labrune, the league’s president, seemed to support the idea. However, this option would have required clubs to wait longer to receive their payments, and not everyone was on board. Notably, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is both the president of PSG and the head of BeIN Sports, was strongly opposed and did not hesitate to leverage his dual roles.
Since then, DAZN has realized that the situation is not going well, with fewer than 500,000 subscribers, prompting the platform to withhold half of the €70 million it was supposed to pay at the beginning of February. What can the LFP do now, especially since Canal+ is not as interested in Ligue 1 as it once seemed? On RMC, Daniel Riolo has revived an idea he strongly supports.
A low-cost channel dedicated to French football
On L’After, the journalist explained why this solution of a 100% Ligue 1 channel was the right one, but it could once again face opposition from Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
“Canal+ no longer wants to go all in, or if they do, it will be for €250 million. Now, the LFP and the FFF (French Football Federation) can meet as much as they want, but there is no solution. Either Canal+ steps in, but for how much? Or you’re forced to consider a project that’s been discussed before: a major football channel with all French rights, including classic matches. You’d need to find distributors so that the boxes and Canal+ can distribute it, and then see if you can reach one million, one and a half million, or even two million subscribers. At €15 per month, maybe it’s possible. However, you’d need to front the money because the clubs need it, and Nasser Al-Khelaifi will oppose this project,” Daniel Riolo explained.
