Annoyed by the choices of the Professional Football League, Canal+ chose not to acquire the TV rights to Ligue 1. A behavior denounced by the president of Montpellier Laurent Nicollin, also criticized by Amazon.
Laurent Nicollin is not the type to mince his words. In a recent interview with the newspaper L’Equipe, the president of Montpellier judged Canal+ responsible for the absence of a broadcaster for Ligue 1 next season. Apparently, Canal+ wants to kill French football. If not kill it, then at least weaken it and hurt it. “, dared the leader who ended up finding another culprit. Without really exonerating the encrypted channel, the boss of Foot Unis, the union of French professional clubs, pointed the finger at Amazon, chosen to the detriment of Canal+ after the failure of Mediapro.
« At that time, the arrival of Amazon allowed us to integrate a new player into the Ligue 1 broadcasting environment and we said to ourselves that it would be a shame to let a new player pass us by. And that by betting everything on Canal, Amazon would not come back when it came time to renegotiate two years later for the new rights.explained Laurent Nicollin before the Senate. Amazon is one of the largest American companies, we had to estimate that this would bring more substantial financial resources and that they would continue in continuity. Unfortunately, they set a maximum amount and did not choose to go higher. »
“Amazon, a bad calculation”
« It was a strategic choice that the League commission made. It didn’t work because we would have liked Amazon to respond and continue. Regardless, I think at that time we couldn’t let them pass. Please note, I’m not saying that we had to stay with Canal, I’m talking about the possibility of working with Amazon. Canal, we always had them via beIN. We believed in a new breath. Today, we can say that it is a bad calculation but it could have been, if everyone had played the game, the opportunity to raise the stakes to have more substantial rights. I don’t know the truth but that’s what I think », concluded the president of the MHSC.
