Ligue 1 receives no bid for broadcasting matches
Ligue 1 viewership could plummet massively if nobody broadcasting rights
The French Professional Football League may no longer be shown on TV because no bids were submitted for the television rights.
Authorities stated on Tuesday that the £693 million a year it costs to stream Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 games is jeopardising French football’s TV presence.
On Monday, Canal Plus, the longest-standing television sponsor of the Professional Football League (LFP), declined to bid for the 2024–29 season.
Due to this, Ligue 1 was compelled to begin the auction on Tuesday without the major French TV companies in the hopes of selling the Ligue 1 broadcast rights.
There were five packages available, including the two primary packages for the rights to air live games.
The two most important games of the game week and the fourth-choice matchup were combined into one bundle for £459 million.
While the second cost £234 million, it was used to transmit the remaining matches that other broadcasters do not air.
LFP will have to personally bargain with Canal Plus and other prospective television networks as there were no applicants for the price at the moment, as reported by L’Equipe.
LFP officials said: “After having received multiple qualitative offers and guaranteed financial packages on all of the bundles (1-5).
“LFP Media reveals that none of the bundles have been attributed today (Tuesday). “As a result, LFP Media is continuing its commercialisation process of the rights to Ligue 1 and postpones the call for candidates for Ligue 2.”
It was originally planned on Thursday, October 19, and Friday, October 20, to be the days for the Ligue 2 rights call for bids. Since the start of the pay-TV service in 1984, Canal Plus has broadcast premier league football in France.
However, a prospective record contract with the Spanish corporation Mediapro has put the broadcaster and the LFP at odds since 2020. The LFP bid procedure occurred at a challenging period for French football as well.
