It was this Monday morning that the official submission of offers from contenders for L1 broadcasting rights for the period 2024-2029 took place.
Currently split between Amazon and Canal+, Ligue 1 broadcasting rights will change hands from next season, for a period of five years (2024-2025). If Amazon a priori wishes to stay in the game, this is not the case for Canal+ which, given the prices currently displayed, has preferred to move on. The Professional Football League expects no less than 800 million euros for the two lots placed on the market.
The premium lot, made up of the two best posters of the championship day and the fourth choice in co-broadcast, is valued at 530 million euros – the so-called volume lot, which includes the other six matches of each round, at 270 millions of euros. That is 218 million euros more in total than the previous media stake (332 million euros for the two main matches, by Canal+; 250 million for the rest, by Amazon). The League’s objective is to reach one billion euros per year with international rights which will be put on sale in a second phase.
New candidate actors
According to RMC, no less than eight players responded to the call for tenders issued by the LFP, submitting their qualitative offers and financial guarantees this Monday morning in Paris. beIN Sports was the first in line, obviously very interested in the second batch, larger and whose price was considered more reasonable. A lot that Amazon would also keep, not necessarily ready to invest much more than at present. Another declared candidate: DAZN, the gluttonous platform which does not seem crazy with its six billion in debt already accumulated but which plans a return to balance in the short term.
The identity of the other contenders at this stage is not known but the rumor of renewed interest from RMC Sport has appeared, as well as the entry into play of a new player: the Warner Bros Discovery group, owner of Eurosport . On the GAFA side, in addition to Amazon, Facebook and Google, more focused on the US market, should pass their turn. Apple, on the other hand, is a credible lead, but more for international rights. The rising rating in recent hours concerns Paramount+, a streaming platform which does not hide its ambitions in sport and already holds the rights to the Champions League in the United States.
