This is the main reproach formulated by DAZN to the LFP. According to the British platform, the French body does not do enough in the face of hacking, a major problem in the quest for subscribers. Indeed, who has never seen or heard around him boast of his illegal access to all channels? Easy to access and devilishly effective, hacking in France has taken off, and there is not a grand world to incriminate the faults, also due to the prices charged by paid chains.
But it seems that the diffusers have reached a point of no return. This is the meaning of the message issued by Tom Burrows in particular, responsible for global rights of Dazn, during the Business of Football Summit organized by the Financial Times. “We arrive at a stage where the sports rights industry is almost in crisis. The media rights agreements were concluded on the basis of exclusivity, but I think there is almost an argument to say that one can no longer obtain exclusive rights because the hacking is so serious. In the past, broadcasters have funded the financial deficit (caused by hacking), but I don't think that will continue and, if we cannot find a way to fill this deficit, it is the sports themselves that will suffer from it. »»
The fight against hacking must intensify
France is a blatant example of the new deal, since Dazn has decided not to pay all of the rights due in February (until today), as a response. An incentive, financial, to throw all the forces in this fight under penalty of losing even bigger. But France is far from being the only country affected. In England too, a country where TV rights are highest and reach almost 2 billion euros per season, the problem intensifies. Through a different bias, and the sale, on Amazon (!), Of an “Firestick” which connects to the TV and offers access to the paid channels. “The Amazon Firetick is a big problem here”said the operational director of the Sky group Nick Herm. “We believe that it represents about half of the hacking in the United Kingdom. People think that because it is a legitimate brand, it must be acceptable. They therefore give their credit card information to criminal gangs. Amazon does not interact with us as much as we would like. »»
According to a British analysis firm, hacking represents around 50 % of the share of markets around the world, and 90 % in India. An extent that is far too large for the broadcasters to accept to invest massively. We therefore head more than ever towards the end of this model. Unless … The value of TV rights in the Premier League has continued to climb, in particular because the efforts made in the fight against hacking are deemed serious, on the part of all the actors (police, Internet access providers). So here is a track to follow for the LFP, while the presidents of Ligue 1 clearly pointed out the responsibility of its President Vincent Labrune.
