While the current deal with DAZN and beIN Sports falls short of expectations, Ligue 1 clubs should expect no better going forward.
Will it be better tomorrow? For Ligue 1 clubs, it is far from won. While the elite of French football derives most of its income from TV rights, the LFP missed its mark by finishing very far from the billion euros annually hoped for.
Since this season, DAZN and beIN Sports have paid around 500 million euros per year. And the clubs would be wrong to hope that the situation would improve, according to the head of the National Directorate of Management Control.
“At the DNCG, we think that the chances of seeing a media arrive and put more emphasis on the domestic rights of the L1 are reduced, confides Jean-Marc Mickeler in L’Equipe.
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. Those who say we have a problem simply because the current contract is undervalued are wrong. »
Wages must fall
Clubs must therefore anticipate a drop in their income, especially since they will not be able to compensate for these losses forever via the transfer window. “Those who think that they will be able to continue to balance their accounts by selling for more than 800 million players are also wrong, adds the president of the DNCG. During the last transfer window, the number of sales decreased by 9% in Europe. And clubs are now turning to players under 19, cheaper, with resale potential, and with a view to containing the wage bill. »
It is therefore at the level of player income that Ligue 1 clubs have a lot of work to do. “ 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. »
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