The LFP board of directors awarded eight matches to DAZN on Thursday, July 25, for around 400 million euros per season. The president of the Women’s Football League deplores an agreement below their expectations.
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“We are very far from what was envisaged”deplored Jean-Michel Aulas, president of the Women’s Professional Football League and vice-president of the French Football Federation, on franceinfo on Thursday, July 25. The board of directors of the Professional Football League (LFP) validated the offer from the British platform DAZN, which recovers eight of the nine Ligue 1 matches per day for around 400 million euros. Negotiations are continuing, however, with the Qatari channel beIN Sports, on obtaining one poster per day.
“We will have to finalize the agreement to know how much beIN will be able to contribute to the contribution presented by DAZN”underlines Jean-Michel Aulas. “But we will be below what was planned.” The president of the Women’s Professional Football League notes that there will be “budgets to be redone for all clubs”. For clubs owned by “French investor owners”there will be “a number of things” to be reviewed. Jean-Michel Aulas thus deplores an offer which “is not good news for French professional football.”
But he recalls that there is also “the beginning of an adventure with CVC”a Luxembourg investment fund which brought 1.5 billion to French professional football, representing around 13% of its commercial revenue.
“We really need to make it much easier for users to follow the championship.”
Jean-Michel Aulas, president of the LFPto franceinfo
Jean-Michel Aulas welcomes the agreement with the British platform DAZN, “which is successful everywhere in Europe and in the world”. Jean-Michel Aulas therefore points out “the negative aspect which is the short term financial aspect” but hope “that the solution that has been chosen is, for the future, the one that will allow for strong growth”He also warns of the impact of this agreement on “the users” platforms: “We need to make an effort on pricing.” Jean-Michel Aulas makes “complete confidence in Vincent Labrune”the president of the Professional Football League, “to find solutions”.
The French Football Federation remains “extremely vigilant so that its budgets, its forecasts, are not entirely in favour of women’s football, but take into account the progress of women’s football”adds Jean-Michel Aulas.