A new stone in the DAZN garden. The Professional Football League (LFP) announced Thursday that the kick-off of Saturday evening matches – and Friday evening when there is a match at 7 p.m., as is the case this Friday – is moved to 9:05 p.m. , in order to allow “better editorialization” of Ligue 1 pre-matches. Which basically means that it was not, until then, satisfactory.
From whose point of view? Subscribers, that’s a certainty, if we judge by the numerous criticisms that have surfaced on social networks since the start of the season. The content of pre-matches and half-times is considered too poor, invaded by advertising. The LFP necessarily realized this, and escalated the problems to the chain, which will surely have responded that the very short time between the end of the 7 p.m. match and the start of the 9 p.m. match did not leave it enough room to maneuver.
A future “hardly bright or joyful”
We remain at the conjecture stage for these two actors, since neither the League nor DAZN responded to our requests. But whatever it is, this change accentuates the idea of a graft which is difficult to take between the British platform and French football. “All this does not exude serenity,” says TV rights specialist Pierre Maes. We sense a lack of confidence in the plan, a certain panic, where we are making changes that are nonetheless important and a bit haphazard. »
Who could have predicted? Landed at the last moment at the end of a call for tenders where nothing worked as the president of the League Vincent Labrune had promised, DAZN was forced to launch hastily, to make nothing better for a price too high to only see the French championship (29.90 euros per month with commitment, 39.90 euros without). “To the distrust of fans towards the League, which sends them wandering from one platform to another while making them pay a high price, was added the distrust towards DAZN seen the weakness of the product,” continues Pierre Maes.
Even if it’s akin to a bandage on a wooden leg, the next few weeks will tell if these five minutes of rab’, coupled with the return of the Sunday afternoon multiplex and a new promotion on occasional subscriptions of Christmas, will be saving for the broadcaster and will change the perception of viewers – at least a little. The future, however, does not seem “bright or joyful”, as the author of the book says. The ruin of French football. Ligue 1 and its clubs find themselves in a real quagmire today.
The Team mentioned in December the figure of 500,000 subscribers, lower than that which Mediapro had managed to amass in less time in 2020, before still throwing in the towel. The daily added that an exit clause could be activated at the end of next November by the LFP or the British platform if the threshold of one and a half million subscribers is not reached.
-November 2025, fundamental deadline
Originally, this clause had been requested by club presidents, in case the TV rights market would be more profitable at this deadline. But it could ultimately turn against them, if ever DAZN felt it was time for it to stop the fees. “A new call for tenders at the beginning of 2026 is highly probable,” observes Pierre Maes, “and to date, nothing shows that the market will be more competitive at that time. It will probably be even less so if DAZN withdraws. The League would be exposed to even lower TV rights. »
The clubs would also miss the best part of the five-year contract signed by the platform, since the latter provides for an increase from 350 million euros annually for this first season to 450 million annually in 2029. Without the assurance, therefore, of finding better then. So, is the anticipated catastrophe inevitable? Much of the answer will depend on DAZN and its large-scale strategy.
OUR FILE ON TV FOOTBALL RIGHTS
The British group is in the process of finalizing a huge purchase in Australia, that of the operator Foxtel for nearly two billion dollars, in order to get its hands on the broadcasting rights to cricket and Australian football. “The industrial challenge is major for DAZN,” recalls the sports TV rights consultant. The group had $6 billion in cumulative losses, that amount must be greater now. We cannot see when it will reach equilibrium; we have the impression that we are witnessing a headlong flight. » It might be time for the League to patch things up with Canal +, if that’s even possible.
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