The new agreement, which was reached with the streaming service DAZN and the Qatari company beIN Sports, is a 20 percent reduction from the previous one. How Kylian Mbappe-Less Ligue 1 Is Struggling In 2024-25?
This season, France is expected to field a record number of teams in the Champions League, but Ligue 1 faces the possibility of collapsing as a result of a financial crisis that cast a shadow over the league’s start. After defeating Slavia Prague 2-0 in the first leg of their play-off match midweek, Lille is well-positioned to guarantee a berth in the actual Champions League when they play again on Wednesday.
After winning the game in the city of the Czech Republic, they’ll join defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, and Brest in the enlarged
The departure of coach Paulo Fonseca to AC Milan and the transfer of defender Leny Yoro to Manchester United don’t seem to have significantly hurt the team from the north of France.
The new domestic TV agreement that Ligue 1 negotiated in a rush shortly before the start of the season only brought in 500 million euros ($555 million) a year, leaving the league in far worse shape overall.
The new agreement, which was reached with the streaming service DAZN and the Qatari company beIN Sports, is a 20 percent reduction from the previous one.
Figures obtained by the sports daily L’Equipe show that this is the lowest amount paid in France for domestic broadcast rights in over twenty years.
Lens president Joseph Oughourlian asserted, “Ligue 1 clubs have never received so little from TV,” revealing his team will only receive about nine million euros for the season.
Despite Kylian Mbappe‘s departure, the price is somewhat mitigated by an increase in foreign rights to almost 160 million euros annually.
However, the league as a whole is already feeling the effects, since few teams are able to invest in new players through the transfer market.
Even PSG, who have reportedly already spent 175 million euros on new players, could decide not to add any more before the transfer market shuts the following week.
“We want to know if a player shows up at a standard fee. We are not interested if the price is too expensive,” Luis Enrique, the coach, stated on Thursday.
The reduction in Ligue 1’s TV agreement, which puts France even farther behind the major European leagues in England, Germany, Spain, and Italy, is unlikely to have a significant effect on PSG because of their Qatari owners.
However, there are rumors that many fans are hesitant to pay the thirty euros a month necessary for a membership to the British streaming service DAZN, so the difficulties may only be getting started.
Might Ligue 1 then find itself in a situation similar to that of 2020, when Mediapro, a Spanish corporation, withdrew from a historic broadcast agreement just months after it was signed?
President of the French League Vincent Labrune hopes to be re-elected in elections next month, despite the current turmoil.
Powerhouses PSG and Marseille, the latter under new coach Roberto De Zerbi, have emerged victorious from the opening weekend of the new season.
For their first home game since Mbappe left for Real Madrid, PSG hosts Montpellier on Friday.
Key stats
9 – When Mbappe (44) and Goncalo Ramos (14), two of PSG’s best scorers from the previous campaign, are excluded from the team, the team only manages nine goals when against Montpellier. Both Vitinha and Randal Kolo Muani arrived at that amount.
4-France will have four teams in the actual Champions League for the first time if Lille defeats Slavia Prague.
Fixtures (times GMT)
Friday
Paris Saint-Germain v Montpellier (1845)
Saturday
Lyon v Monaco (1500), Lille v Angers (1700), Saint-Etienne v Le Havre (1900)
Sunday
Lens v Brest (1300), Nantes v Auxerre, Nice v Toulouse, Strasbourg v Rennes (all 1500), Marseille v Reims (1845)
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