TV rights: Ligue 1 starts from scratch and prepares for austerity

In computing, when you decide to reset a computer due to a possible malfunction, it's called a "reset." In some ways, this is a bit like what's happening with the French men's football championship. Starting Friday, August 15, the date the Ligue 1 season resumes, eight of the nine matches of each day will be broadcast on the newly created professional league (LFP) channel: Ligue 1+.

A default choice for the body's leaders, faced with a new situation: broadcasters are no longer prepared to pay hundreds of millions of euros annually to pay for the competition's rights. In the absence of an agreement with Canal+ and after years of crisis – from the failure of Mediapro in the fall of 2020 to the withdrawal of the British platform DAZN in the summer of 2025, after just one season – the LFP had no other option but to embark on this "complex" project, in the words of its president, Vincent Labrune .

Among the difficulties identified is the expected loss of revenue for clubs, whose television rights represented the bulk of their budget (nearly 40% on average in Ligue 1, for the 2023-2024 season); an element that is all the more significant given that many French clubs are already experiencing perilous financial situations.

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