While waiting for an agreement with a broadcaster for their championship, Ligue 1 clubs cannot invest in the transfer market and could even be forced to sell off certain players.
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The days pass and the fog remains. Less than two months before the resumption of the French championship, no one knows on which channel it will be broadcast. The economic balance of French football, already precarious, is largely based on the allocation of TV rights. More than ten days after the opening of the Ligue 1 transfer window, in the middle of the Euro, at a time when teams are usually busy looking for reinforcements, uncertainty dominates and recruitment is put on hold.
“There have been relatively few transfers since the market openednotes Antoine Feuillet, doctor in sports economics and lecturer at the University of Paris-Saclay. The situation regarding TV rights is slowing down the enthusiasm of the clubs because they have no visibility on their budget for next year. A large part of their income is completely unknown.” PSG is the only Ligue 1 club to have formalized a major arrival: that of Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, from Krasnodar. For the majority of other groups, much more dependent on broadcasting rights, it is dead calm.
At the same date last year, there were already nearly ten official arrivals. Free players (Stijn Spierings, Loïc Nego, Becir Omeragic), but also acquisitions valued at several million euros: Ibrahim Cissoko in Toulouse, Morgan Guilavogui in Lens, or the purchase options of Mahdi Camara and Mostafa Mohamed exercised by Brest and Nantes.
Vivien André, agent of Blues right-back Jonathan Clauss (Marseille), confirms the trend observed: “Indeed, there are several colleagues calling each other and we see that it is working quite slowly at the start of the transfer window.” Not all clubs are as dependent on TV rights, but this windfall represents at least a third of the income of each Ligue 1 team, and up to two thirds for some.
“Generally, it is an income that is stable over several yearsexplains Antoine Feuillet, author of a thesis on sports broadcasting rights. There, no one is able to say what the clubs will receive.” While waiting to know the amount, the teams are procrastinating. Laurent Nicollin, president of Montpellier Hérault and Foot Unis, the union of professional clubs, summarized in an interview with The Team : “It’s not complicated. As of today, there are zero. So for the moment, there are no transfers.”
Some training courses even struggle to honor their commitments: “This slows down paymentsconfides Mohamed Amaar, agent of French international Youssouf Fofana (Monaco) in particular. We have had payments due since March, but the clubs are waiting to see where they will go. […] Nothing works anymore.” The National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) of the Professional Football League (LFP) is lenient, having accepted, in a letter dated May 13 revealed by The Teamthat clubs base their budget projections on their current television revenues.
But for many teams, more than ever, it will be necessary to follow the famous adage of French football: sell before buying. Which is not necessarily easier, when the European giants know this financial vulnerability: “The fact that the League is having difficulty selling its rights, all of Europe knows itagrees Antoine Feuillet. Obviously, when you are a Premier League club [championnat anglais] and you are dealing with Ligue 1 clubs to buy certain players, it is a way of negotiating downwards. Especially since French clubs are already obliged to sell structurally, even outside of periods of crisis.”
To make matters worse, the Euro is delaying the major maneuvers for the major European teams, and the coaches’ waltz (Marseille, Lille, Lens, Nice, Reims, Le Havre) is not yet over. “Hours go by without any newssays Vivien André. There is perhaps the impact of TV rights and the cumulative Euro, which means that the transfer window, in my opinion, has not really started.”