Canal+ has decided not to participate in the call for tenders for Ligue 1 TV rights for the period 2024-2029. Explanations.
It’s a certainty: Canal+ and Ligue 1 are over. The historic broadcaster of the French championship has decided not to claim the rights for the period 2024-2029, burned by numerous disputes with the Professional Football League in recent years and systematically rejected in its legal proceedings against the institution dedicated to football.
This Monday in a letter addressed to the LFP and its president Vincent Labrune, Maxime Saada, the boss of the encrypted channel, was able to motivate this decision. The choice of Mediapro in 2020, that of Amazon to compensate for the failure of the Spanish group caused a few months later but also the merger with DAZN not authorized under sublicense by the LFP, these are the reasons for the breakup put forward. In addition to Vincent Labrune’s media releases not always understood by Canal+.
The regrets of the LFP
In principle, however, Maxime Saada assures that he wanted to study the possibility of inviting himself once again to the negotiating table. Only the expected prices, made public, have considerably cooled his group. “ By discovering the amount of lot 1 (530 million euros, editor’s note), they fell out of their chair », confides a source close to Canal+ relayed by RMC. So the conclusion is clear: “ It is clear that our relations with the LFP have deteriorated significantly over the years. (…) The conditions are not met today for the Canal group to submit an offer on October 16 and 17 », Underlines Maxime Saada, convinced that the LFP already has a secret deal with Amazon.
At the end of the day this Monday, the LFP, initially silent in the face of the defection from Canal+, issued a press release to comment on the news. “ The LFP regrets the decision expressed by the Canal+ Group which it obviously never wanted. (…) The assertions or insinuations contained in this letter are, moreover, particularly serious. (…) Finally, the LFP regrets the process of publicly disclosing the terms of this letter, in order to harm the marketing process as well as the interests of the LFP and the clubs that make it up. »
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Via over-the-counter negotiations or through a possible future agreement with DAZN, Canal+ could however reconnect with Ligue 1 faster than expected. In any case, this is the wish of Jean-Michel Aulas, representative of the FFF on the board of directors of the LFP, who expressed himself to L’Equipe: “ There is a globalization of rights. The rules of the game have completely changed. But I repeat, we have to see what DAZN can do with the new call for tenders. This could also allow Canal to be there. I hope so very much. Because with Canal, we experienced an era that was incredible. »
