“I don’t want to make a program because I’m not a politician. I’m more of a manager who tends to open the hood and see what needs to be done. Despite everything, there are a few subjects.” Candidate for the presidency of the Professional Football League, Cyril Linette was the special guest of l’After Foot this Wednesday on RMC. Officially sponsored since Monday, the one who hopes to create a sensation on September 10 against Vincent Labrune took stock of what he would seek to improve as a priority in the event of victory.
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“We absolutely have to find a solution” with DAZN
“There is an immediate crisis for the clubs. The LFP needs to make savings, find financing solutions for the clubs, loans, help them get through a terrible crisis. We also need to help DAZN, which is now the partner, give it a leg up, perhaps advise it a little more in its commercial policy which seems out of step to me,” he said. Before saying more about the British platform, the new major broadcaster of the championship singled out by many supporters because of the price of its subscriptions.
“They signed the rights two weeks before the start of the championship, technically it’s a feat to be on the air. It’s true that it’s off to a very average start from a commercial point of view because it’s not good. We have to find a way to co-construct a commercial policy with them. We absolutely have to find a solution so that they quickly have more attractive offers for the fans otherwise it will be difficult. beIN also has to live up to its contract, that’s a real question mark. There are still urgent things to sort out,” he insisted.
The former CEO of L’Équipe and PMU also believes that “the concern of French football is structural”. “We cannot show a billion in losses per year excluding transfers, 300 million euros in losses per year after transfers, and consider that this model is working well when it is based on player trading and TV rights. Unfortunately, TV rights will all decrease, except for the very big leagues, because the world has changed”, he stressed.
He is “convinced” that he can renew dialogue between the LFP and Canal+
Having worked for Canal+, where he held the position of sports director, Cyril Linette also answered questions from After Foot on the need to renew dialogue between the LFP and the encrypted channel. “I think that Canal+ is essential both as a channel editor and distributor. They have an ideal position because they can aggregate channels, broadcast programs on their own channels. They could host a digital platform. I have no idea what Canal+’s strategy will be with regard to Ligue 1 in the years to come. Are they still interested?”, he asked.
And to conclude on the Canal+ case: “I think that it was necessary to support the evolution with new channels, to bring in competitors, operators but always keep at least one foot in Canal+. Would I bring Canal+ back on board as a broadcaster? I don’t know. Can I bring Canal+ back to the negotiating table? Yes, I am convinced of that. As president, that would change, discussion would become possible again with Canal+ without predicting the result. With me, we could discuss, without guaranteeing a result.”
- RMC Sport
