Ligue 1 struggle to find broadcasters for major regions across Europe

Just two years after entering into an investment agreement with the private equity company CVC Capital Partners, French football appears to be on the edge of collapse as teams prepare for an approaching cash crunch and the league operator finds it difficult to secure a broadcaster for the upcoming season.

The top two divisions of French football's league, Ligue de Football Professionnel, has been attempting to sign a new TV contract since October, but the sale hasn't generated the €1 billion the organization had hoped for.

Following the expiration of the existing agreement with Amazon, the two primary contenders for the 2024–2029 rights were the streamer DAZN, controlled by Leonard Blavatnik, and the sports broadcaster beIN of Qatar.

But in October, the rights auction fell through, unable to attract even one bidder at the reserve cost of almost €800 million. Since then, LFP has been in direct communication with the parties involved, but no agreement has been reached as of yet. The league's annual general meeting was originally set for the first week of June, but LFP president Vincent Labrune postponed it until the end of the month, promising to "propose a definitive solution" at that time.

A media executive attributed the current state of affairs to "incompetence" at the league, while another described the auction process as a "total shitshow."

Who has secured the rights for Ligue 1 for the next five years?

The leaders of Ligue 1 decided in July to accept a joint proposal from DAZN and BeIN to develop a Ligue 1 platform that would be available directly to consumers in collaboration with competitor broadcaster Warner Bros Discovery. At the beginning of August, the LFP board of directors approved the two agreements.

The five-year deal, which expires in 2028–2029, stipulates that DAZN will be compensated €400 million for eight of those nine games each season, while BeIN will broadcast the top matchup every week or the second-biggest matchup every other week for €100 million.