Jean-Marc Mickeler spoke at length in the columns of L'Equipe. After responding to John Textor, the president of the DNCG looked more generally at the future of French football in general. And his revelations are worrying: “It remains complicated (the net situation of French clubs, editor’s note). The operating loss is of the order of one billion euros, offset by very good sales with 830 million euros of capital gains on player sales. This generates a net loss of around 250 million euros (150 in L1, 100 in L2). We are at a crossroads. The clubs benefited from 472 million euros in revenue from CVC (the investment fund which acquired 13% of the commercial subsidiary of the LFP) in 2022-2023, then 550 million euros in 2023-2024. This season, they will only have the balance, i.e. 136 million euros…“
Unsurprisingly, the reduction in TV rights did not play a positive role: “The drop in television rights is part of a trend comparable to that observed in other Championships for domestic rights over the last 5 or 6 years, with a reduction of 11% over the duration of the contract (5 years). In this context, this drop is neither surprising nor exceptional (…) Ultimately, the net rights deficit will amount to 96 million for the 2024-2025 season. This amount, although substantial, should not plunge French football into an existential crisis if the economic model remains under control. The problem lies in the decision taken by the clubs when CVC arrived: they chose that the fund would not receive any dividend during the first two seasons, but that this amount would be carried over in full to the 2024-2025 to 2026 seasons. 2027. Thus, during this period, the rights of the clubs will be reduced by the payment of this exceptional dividend (…) At the DNCG, we believe that the chances of seeing a media arrive and put more on the domestic rights of the L1 are reduced . One of the main sectors suffering in Europe is the media. When people have less money to consume, they look at their subscriptions… Whatever the Championship, overinvesting in domestic rights is not the trend.”
The DNCG is “concerned”…
The boss of the financial policeman of French football then spoke about the payroll: “Despite successive crises (Mediapro, Covid), French clubs have never worked on the payroll. When the Mediapro deal was announced, in 2018 (for the period 2020-2024), the clubs increased their payroll by 400 million euros. When we look at all the clubs monitored by UEFA, there is a payroll/revenue ratio of 53%. In France, it is 67%. The big operating imbalance in French football is due to this peak of 400 million. When we add to this lower domestic rights than elsewhere, and a lower capacity to generate additional income, we understand that we are reaching the end of a model. I would say that they (the clubs) added up optimistic assumptions, thinking that everything that happened was cyclical, that the transfer market was going to pick up again, that TV rights were going to increase, that there was an unlimited consumer appetite for football. Everything we see shows that this is not true.“
Finally, he concluded by not hiding his fear of possible bankruptcies in the future: “The DNCG is concerned. She shares this concern with club managers and shareholders. Brest's journey illustrates what we have been saying for years: money is not everything. Everyone will have to be convinced of that. The economic model as it existed is dead.“
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To summarize
The president of the DNCG did not fail to make a worrying revelation about the future of French football. Jean-Marc Mickeler spoke at length in the columns of L'Equipe. After responding to John Textor, the president of the DNCG looked more generally at the future of French football in general. And his revelations are worrying.
