“None of the five lots” of 2024-2029 Ligue 1 TV rights were awarded at auction

The auction came to nothing. “None of the five lots” TV rights for Ligue 1 for the period 2024-2029 were not allocated at auction on Tuesday October 17, announced the Professional Football League (LFP), specifying that the “marketing process” would continue. “After having received several qualitative offers and financial guarantee schemes for all lots 1 to 5, LFP Media indicates that none of the five lots has been awarded today, in accordance with the provisions of the Ligue 1 call for applications “, wrote the LFP in a press release on Tuesday.

This had priced the first two lots, which concern the live broadcast of matches, at 800 million euros per season: 530 million euros for lot 1 containing the two most beautiful posters and choice No. 4 of each day, 270 million euros for lot 2 which includes the other six matches. Amounts considered significant by several media and football observers, while the rights for the previous period only amounted to 624 million euros.

Canal + could return to the negotiating table

Over-the-counter negotiations between the LFP and interested media will now begin, and could last several weeks. Among the potential candidates, Prime Video, beIN Sports, the sports streaming platform DAZN and even Apple. Canal + could also invite itself back into the dance, while the chairman of the board of the group Maxime Saada had warned the League that it would not participate in the auction at the end of September. Their conditions “have convinced us that your only objective was to exclude Canal + and favor Amazon”, he wrote in the letter revealed by The Team.

“You have constantly penalized Canal +”. These unsuccessful auctions are a first setback for the president of the LFP, Vincent Labrune. He said he hoped, this summer, to reach one billion euros in TV rights to be redistributed to professional clubs, including the sale of rights abroad – the call for tenders for which was launched on October 6.