The crisis in French football is far from being resolved. In the absence of a broadcaster able to meet the financial expectations of the French elite clubs, and while it was necessary to manage the withdrawal of DAZN, Ligue 1+ was launched by the Professional Football League (LFP) this summer in order to assume and ensure the retransmission of the French championship. A daring bet which clearly struggles to convince.
If the public was there – the consequence of an aggressive pricing policy – the benefits are not those expected and the economic model of the dedicated platform is challenging. The latest incident to date, the failure of L1+ in acquiring the paying rights to the 2026 World Cup (for the benefit of beIN Sports) precipitated the departure of the brains of the operation, Nicolas de Tavernost.
“A strategic error”
The earthquake is not without damage. So much so that Vincent Labrune, the boss of the LFP, did not hide his skepticism eight days ago. “ All the administrators were in support of Ligue 1+ but Nicolas’s media positions caused a stir and this morning, I realized that it was going to be complicated to put the church back in the center of the village. (…)
I am not convinced that we will be able to restore a strong collective momentum around the project. »
This Saturday, the rediscovered president of OGC Nice, Jean-Pierre Rivère, in turn expresses big doubts to Nice Matin. “
I think that Ligue 1+ is a strategic error that we made », Says the person concerned, openly regretting the end of the collaboration with Amazon in particular. And to turn on Nicolas de Tavernost, guilty according to him of the divorce with Canal+. “
Canal+ was ready to returnhe insists. Nicolas de Tavernost considered that this was not the right solution. He considered that Ligue 1+ was the right solution… »
