By Andrea Caropreso
Index
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Ligue 1 has decided: starting next year, it will manage its own TV rights through a channel created specifically by the league. This decision comes after the incredible devaluation that the French top flight has suffered over the past 5–10 years. A league that, in theory, belongs among Europe’s top 5, but which in reality excites fewer and fewer people and broadcasters due to its lack of unpredictability. Paris Saint-Germain, in fact, has on one hand made the country proud by bringing back a Champions League title that had been missing since Marseille’s days, but on the other has devoured the league, winning 11 of the last 13 championships and affording players of a much higher caliber than its competitors.
The collapse of TV rights
Taking a step back, we can understand how Ligue 1 reached a point where no broadcaster (except BeIN Sports, which airs one match) was interested anymore. Before the pandemic, the French league had secured a deal worth over €1 billion by assigning broadcasting rights to Canal Plus and BeIN Sports. The former would air the top 3 matches, while the Qatari broadcaster handled the remaining 7 per matchday.
Following the acquisition, Canal Plus expected to generate €2.7 billion in revenue from 2016 to 2020 (new subscribers, higher subscription fees, loyalty from existing users). BeIN Sports, for its part, counted on €800 million. With the expiration of the contract covering 2016–2020, Spanish broadcaster Mediapro attempted to enter the scene. However, it remained in the game for just the 2020–21 season, as actual revenues were 41% below expectations (€620 million compared to the projected €1.15 billion).
After this failure, a new cycle (2021–2024) began with Amazon entering as the main partner (alongside the ever-present BeIN Sports). The deal, worth €250 million per year, provided some certainty to Ligue 1, which had to back out of the lucrative agreement with Mediapro. However, the lower-value deal with Amazon further irritated Canal Plus, which was paying much more for only two sublicensed matches from BeIN Sports.
Canal Plus later attempted to withdraw from the sublicensing agreement but failed when BeIN won the case in court with support from the League. Canal Plus then announced that it would not seek to acquire broadcasting rights for the 2024–2029 cycle.
The DAZN flop and self-management
This brings us to the point of no return: 2024. Last year, DAZN had agreed to acquire Ligue 1 matches under two conditions: the first, that the deal wouldn’t exceed €400 million per year (Ligue 1 expected at least double), and the second, that a subscriber clause be included. In other words, if DAZN reached 1.5 million subscribers, it would honor the deal; otherwise, it could abandon the agreement by paying an €85 million penalty.
Domestic Ligue 1 TV Rights Cycle and Value
| CYCLE | YEARS | BROADCASTERS | TOTAL VALUE (€M) | ANNUAL VALUE (€M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–2029 | 5 | DAZN, BeIN Sports | €2,500 | €500 |
| 2021–2024 | 3 | Amazon, BeIN Sports | €1,710 | €570 |
| 2020–21 | 1 | Canal+, BeIN, Mediapro² | €620 | €620 |
| 2020–2024¹ | 4 | Mediapro¹, BeIN Sports | €4,400 | €1,100 |
| 2016–2020 | 4 | Canal+, BeIN Sports | €2,906 | €727 |
Notes:
¹ The agreement with Mediapro was terminated in December 2020.
² Mediapro paid €100 million to free itself from its financial obligations to the LFP.
Eventually, DAZN withdrew due to a clear failure (it didn’t even reach half the expected subscribers). This decision sent Ligue 1 into crisis, as it couldn’t even count on revenues from international TV rights sales — in countries like Italy, no broadcaster chose to invest. Therefore, the league took a drastic but necessary step: a self-managed channel — a move seen only partially successful in the U.S. with MLS.
The goal for Ligue 1 is to reach at least 1.1 million subscribers by the end of next season, leveraging a low launch price to generate approximately €151 million in revenue. From the 2026–2027 season, when the LFP will broadcast all 9 matches (once the BeIN Sports deal ends), forecasts predict €320 million in revenue with 1.5 million paying users. By 2028–2029, the league aims for 2.1 million subscribers and projected revenue of €470 million.
Impact on Ligue 1 clubs
All this turmoil surrounding TV rights has inevitably resulted in a loss of competitiveness — not only domestically, but also compared to the other top 4 European leagues (Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A). The consequences for clubs are clear: lower wage capacity (excluding PSG), shrinking revenues, and risk of bankruptcy.
The most recent case is Lyon, which must raise €200 million in capital within 7 days (as ruled by the French federal court), or be relegated to Ligue 2 — resulting in massive losses in terms of squad value and reputation for a historic club. Ligue 1 is now facing its toughest match — one for survival — and this time, the outcome won’t be decided (only) on the pitch.
