The Ligue 1 TV rights drama is far from over. Behind the scenes, it’s a “settling of scores at OK Corral” atmosphere. It even looks like an episode worthy of the famous TV series from the 80s dallas and its merciless universe. The new twist to date: Jean-Michel Roussier, president of Le Havre, would have made it known, according to the newspaper The Team that he would refuse the teams of beIN Sports and their OB vans in its Océane stadium if its team had to be broadcast on a Saturday, at 5 p.m. if the broadcaster did not settle its first TV rights bill of the season which the Qatari channel should have paid since August 30. “Of the 80 million euros expected this season, 24% of this amount has not yet been paid”underline our colleagues from the sports daily.
We rewind for those who have difficulty following. Small recap of previous episodes.
Act 1: DAZN arrives
The decision was made official on 1is last August: just two weeks before the start of the French Ligue 1 championship, the British media DAZN acquired the TV rights to eight out of nine Ligue 1 matches for the tidy sum of 400 million euros, thus becoming the main broadcaster for the 2024-2025 season.
Act 2: Vincent Labrune re-elected
Without much surprise, the outgoing president of the Professional Football League (LFP), Vincent Labrune, was re-elected on Tuesday September 10, 2024. Cyril Linette, his opponent, did not convince the voters of the LFP Board of Directors .
Arriving in 2020, Vincent Labrune went through several crises at the head of his first mandate: the Mediapro fiasco, Covid-19, the controversial agreement with CVC or even the TV rights to Ligue 1 at a discount (400 million euros ) from DAZN after promising the billion this summer. the president of Le Havre, Jean-Michel Roussier, former director of programs at Mediapro, talks about “masquerade. »
Act 3: the standoff between Canal + and the LFP
In conflicts after the allocation of 80% of Ligue 1 TV rights to Amazon in 2021, Canal+ and the LFP will be referred to the Paris Court of Appeal. The Court of Cassation in fact decided, on September 28, to annul the decision taken in February 2023, which rejected the group’s request Canal+. Historic broadcaster of the French football championship, Canal+ did not position itself on the allocation of TV rights for Ligue 1 for the period 2024-2029, won by DAZN et beIN Sports.
Act 4: OL’s pressure
Thursday October 10, Olympique Lyonnais decided to bang their fist on the table regarding unpaid beIN Sports . John Textor’s band is furious as beIN Sportswhich obtained one Ligue 1 match per day for 100 million euros (80 + 20 million in sponsorship), has still not paid the first payment expected at the end of August… The Lyon club has therefore put the Ligue 1 on notice professional football whose board of directors validated the deal with BeIN Sports. Only here: for the Franco-Qatari channel, which broadcasts the Saturday match at 5 p.m., there is no question of paying until one condition is met: co-broadcast. What the LFP refuses.
Act 5: the president of Le Havre steps up to the plate
Other professional clubs would be annoyed by the situation. The attitude of the broadcaster, who places the blame on the League, and the double role of Nasser al-Khelaïfi, both president of PSG and beIN Media Group, the parent company of beIN Franceincreasingly irritate French football leaders.
READ ALSO. TV rights. New twist in the conflict between Canal+ and the LFP
“They have been distributing our product for free for almost two months. We are taken hostage, this cannot last”some leaders complain. For now, the shortfall is estimated at 15 million euros to be divided into 18 for L1 clubs. This is how the president of Le Havre, in turn, threatens to ban beIN sports teams from accessing his stadium if the channel does not settle its outstanding payments. Continued in the next episode…
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