Still no viable solution in sight for French football on the subject of Ligue 1 TV rights. The LFP is preparing to create its channel, but Vincent Labrune opens the door to Canal+ as a savior.
Plans B and C have been announced with an LFP channel or the arrival of Apple TV, but it must be acknowledged that Canal+ is calling the shots on French football TV rights. The encrypted channel is both a broadcaster and distributor, which at the same time blocks the operation set up by Emmanuel Macron and the bigwigs of the state that allowed BeIN Sports to grab everything to save the day. If the Qatari channel was ready to make an effort, it would have had to work hand in hand with Canal+, which has given no guarantees on this subject. As a result, it is still at a standstill as July approaches and the Ligue 1 calendar has been released.
Labrune flirts with Canal+
The LFP is slowly setting up its 100% Ligue 1 channel, even if it is not without raising eyebrows, whether on the revenues or the price of the subscription, not to mention the technical means and the investment that it represents. Everyone dreams of seeing Canal+ return to appear as the white knight of French football. And even Vincent Labrune is getting involved, and is starting to stop slipping little tackles to the encrypted channel. During his appearance before the senators’ committee, the president of the League confided how important it was to him that Vincent Bolloré’s group return to the negotiating table.
« Obviously the role of the president of the League is to do everything to renew dialogue and create the best possible conditions with Canal+. This is actually what I tried to do from the day I was appointed. It was my top priority. But there is another principle of reality: I do not manage alone, but in consultation with the clubs. Canal+ has indicated that it will not be a candidate for our call for tenders. We work, we work to find alternative solutions. We haven’t succeeded so far. I take my part, of course », Delivered Vincent Labrune, for whom the LFP currently has no other choice than to embark on the path of a channel created from scratch to broadcast French football. Will this hand timidly extended to Canal+ make it possible to renew the dialogue, while the presidents of Ligue 1 have spat on the encrypted channel, accusing it of wanting to kill French football by not flooding Ligue 1 with hundreds of million in TV rights for years to come.
