Ligue 2: what the editorial director of beIN Sports said about match scheduling

The Ligue 2 multiplex has switched to Friday since the summer of 2024, prompting the discontent of the supporters but also many leaders. The editorial director of beIN Sports spoke on this subject on Tuesday, November 19.

Adjustments

Questioned by the Team, Florian Houzot recalled that the Qatari channel had already “shows openness with two matches on Saturday, and sometimes even three. And to encourage the organization of supporters, we moved from programming three weeks in advance at six weeks. New discussions will take place at the end of the season on the subject. And until then?

“There will be no further developments this season”

Should we understand that the situation will not change until next spring and the end of the 2024-2025 fiscal year ? Affirmative. “There will be no more evolution“, Florian Houzot confirmed to our colleagues, despite a still present discontent among the supporters. The banners hostile to this programming continue to swarm in the stands second division, led by a unanimous solgan: “Football is the weekend”.

To justify this choice, the editorial director takes the example of the diffusion of professional rugby in France. “Look, French rugby understood very well with the Pro D2 Thursday and Friday, and the Top 14 Saturday and Sunday.

Several incidents

The start of the season was also marked by several incidents and in particular lasers projected on the channel’s cameras, preventing the correct broadcast of the meetings. The Team also announced that on November 8, a Lorient supporter was sentenced to two years in prison, one of which is closed after damaging two beIN Sports control trucks on the sidelines of the Lorient-Grenoble match on August 24.

Rodez clearly impacted

This change in the calendar directly impacts Rodez Aveyron football this season: with the exception of the two days which took place in the middle of the week, the Raf competed the other 11 meetings during the Friday evening multiplex. At this time, last year, the Ruthenois had already been entitled to two matches broadcast as a bonus: against Saint-Étienne (2-1) and Bordeaux (2-2), in mid-August and the end of October 2023.

As a reminder, between 2021 and 2024, it is Prime Video, driven by Amazon, which was responsible for broadcasting the Ligue 2 championship. With a multiplex set for Saturday evening, at 7 p.m.